There are a number of reasons a clinical laboratory should look at streamlining a current workflow process:
- Too many manual steps in the process.
- Current tools not effective (ie, manual logs, labeling, data input) are creating silos that slow down the process.
- Redundant tasks.
- Too much checking back to review records or correct errors in input (manual or automated).
- Too many delays and bottlenecks have become part of the process. An example might be after samples are collected, there are delays in getting the samples to the correct department for testing.
- Work is not completely standardized, so different staff do it in different ways.
- Lack of clarity in the process when problems occur.
- Quality management indicators demonstrate problems in the process.
