JOHN HAY BIOMEDICAL · BI · ORIGINAL COURSE SUPPORT
Trace a patient route.
Find the delay.
I want you to show where waiting builds up and use the records to explain why.
You will make: one labeled flow diagram and a short explanation. Use paper or a document. This page does not collect or save answers.
Schoology: Wk4 Lab notebook, Patient flow workflow · February 8 daily page
1. Read the route and the rule
A workflow is a sequence of steps. A queue is a line waiting for a step. A bottleneck limits how quickly work moves through the route.
A growing queue is a clue. Compare arrival times, waiting times, staff, and task lengths before naming the likely bottleneck.
F0 · Rules for this practice
Four fictional patients use a simplified emergency-department route on the same day. Trained staff have already decided that each can use this route. You do not decide treatment or urgency.
- Arrive at this part of the department.
- Nurse review: one nurse reviews one person at a time, for 4 minutes.
- Clinician review: one clinician sees one person at a time, for 10 minutes.
- Leave: each person spends 10 more minutes on instructions and release steps. These steps have enough staff and space; nobody queues here.
The nurse is available at 9:02 a.m. The clinician is available at 9:10 a.m. After that, staff work without breaks in this short model. Each person starts a step as soon as both the person and staff are ready. Nobody skips ahead.
This simplified model leaves out tests, admissions, urgent cases, and many other hospital processes. Real patients can follow different routes.
2. Read the times
| Record | Arrival | Nurse start / end | Clinician start / end | Leave |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | 9:00 | 9:02 / 9:06 | 9:10 / 9:20 | 9:30 |
| F2 | 9:04 | 9:06 / 9:10 | 9:20 / 9:30 | 9:40 |
| F3 | 9:08 | 9:10 / 9:14 | 9:30 / 9:40 | 9:50 |
| F4 | 9:12 | 9:14 / 9:18 | 9:40 / 9:50 | 10:00 |
Worked example, F1: Wait before nurse = 9:02 minus 9:00 = 2 minutes. Wait before clinician = 9:10 minus 9:06 = 4 minutes.
Use the end of the prior step when calculating a wait. The time spent receiving care is not waiting time.
Your turn: Find both waits for F2, F3, and F4. Write the units, minutes.
Need help subtracting the times?
All the waits here begin and end in the 9 a.m. hour. Subtract the earlier minute number from the later one. A separate example, not one of the records: a review that ends at 9:07 with the next start at 9:12 is a 5-minute wait (12 minus 7).
For records with unclear dates or a.m./p.m., ask for clarification before calculating. Do not silently change a time to make it fit.
Copy this table into your notes if it helps you organize your calculations.
| Record | Wait before nurse | Wait before clinician |
|---|---|---|
| F2 | ___ | ___ |
| F3 | ___ | ___ |
| F4 | ___ | ___ |
3. Draw and explain
- Draw the four steps in F0 as boxes. Use arrows to show the order. Label who does each review.
- Label the two places where people wait. Add the waiting times from F1 to F4 next to each place.
- Choose the likely bottleneck in this model. Use at least two records and one F0 rule to explain your choice.
- Suggest one change to test. State one possible drawback and what you would measure before claiming the change worked.
Need a writing outline?
The likely bottleneck in this model is ___. In F__, the wait is ___ minutes. In F__, it is ___ minutes. F0 says ___. Together, this suggests ___.
I would test ___. A possible drawback is ___. I would compare ___ before and after the change. These four records cannot show ___.
Keep the claim small: These records can support a likely bottleneck in this model. They do not prove which change is safest, what a real hospital should buy, or what happens all day.
4. Check and turn in
Read your diagram from start to finish. Check that every wait has a record ID and units. Keep facts from the table separate from your proposed change.
Save the diagram and explanation together as one PDF, or scan your paper clearly. Open the Schoology assignment above, upload the file, and check the submission preview. Follow its posted due date.
For our next design step: Keep one question your model cannot answer. We will use those questions to decide what evidence a design needs.
How this connects to PLTW
This original, AI-assisted practice supports the process-design work in BI 1.1.3, Emergency! Keep the official problem and its patient records in the BI handouts and daily directions hub. This practice does not complete that problem.