Which investigative technique helps map patient flow and identify failure points?

Which investigative technique helps map patient flow and identify failure points?

• A. Process mapping or flowcharting
• B. SWOT analysis
• C. Trend analysis
• D. Root cause analysis

Answer: (A)

Process mapping or flowcharting visualizes every step a patient goes through in care, from entry to discharge, including who does each step, what information is needed, and where handoffs occur. This clear visualization makes bottlenecks, redundant steps, and unnecessary delays easy to spot, so you can see exactly where patients wait, where errors or slowdowns happen, and where capacity is strained. By tracing a typical patient’s path, you can pinpoint where the flow breaks down and target practical improvements to streamline steps, reduce handoffs, and standardize procedures, thereby reducing failure points and improving safety and efficiency. The other techniques don’t map the sequence of care: SWOT analyzes strengths and weaknesses and external factors, not the process steps; trend analysis looks at data over time without detailing the workflow; and root cause analysis investigates underlying causes after a problem occurs, rather than outlining the full patient journey to locate where it may fail.