When Clinical Workflows Stop Working: What Healthcare Leaders Should Look For
Updated: Sep 11
Healthcare workflows rarely stop working all at once. More often, the warning signs appear gradually: repeated delays, unclear responsibilities, communication gaps, duplicated work, inconsistent processes, or staff developing workarounds just to get through the day.
In a busy clinical environment, these issues can easily become accepted as “just how things are done.” But when inefficient processes become routine, they can affect staff workload, communication, care coordination, and ultimately the patient experience.
Look Beyond the Individual Problem
When something repeatedly goes wrong, it is easy to focus on the person involved. But recurring problems often point to a process issue rather than an individual performance issue.
Healthcare leaders should ask:
Is the workflow clearly defined?
Does everyone understand who is responsible for each step?
Are there unnecessary handoffs or duplicate steps?
Is important information reaching the right person at the right time?
Have staff created workarounds because the established process no longer meets the needs of the clinical environment?
These questions shift the focus from “Who made the mistake?” to “What in the process allowed this to happen?”
Pay Attention to the Workarounds
Frontline staff often recognize workflow problems before they appear on a report.
When nurses and other team members repeatedly develop their own methods to complete routine tasks, that can be an important signal. A workaround may solve an immediate problem, but multiple workarounds can create variation, communication gaps, and additional opportunities for something to be missed.
Leaders should understand not only what staff are doing differently, but why they felt the workaround was necessary.
Follow the Information
Many clinical workflow problems occur at transition points—when responsibility, information, or care moves from one person or department to another.
A process may look effective when each individual step is reviewed separately. The gaps often become visible when the entire workflow is followed from beginning to end.
Where does information stop? Where are staff waiting? Where is the same work being performed twice? Where is responsibility unclear?
Those transition points can reveal opportunities for meaningful process improvement.
Improvement Starts With Understanding the Current State
Before changing a workflow, healthcare leaders need a clear picture of how the work is actually being performed—not simply how the policy says it should be performed.
That means listening to frontline staff, observing the process, identifying barriers, and examining how different departments interact.
The goal is not change for the sake of change. It is to create processes that are clear, practical, and supportive of safe, efficient patient care.
A Clinical Perspective Matters
Clinical operations are more than policies, procedures, and metrics. They involve people caring for people in complex environments.
Effective workflow improvement requires understanding both the operational process and the realities of clinical care. When those perspectives come together, organizations are better positioned to identify gaps and develop solutions that work in practice—not just on paper.
SHE Clinical Strategies helps healthcare organizations examine clinical workflows, care coordination, and operational processes to identify opportunities for practical improvement.
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