Feb 19, 2024 • By Heidi Hays

Making sure you have everything you need from learners before they rotate to your institution can be challenging. Missing data or inaccuracies will inevitably occur. Still, there could be systematic gaps or opportunities for improvement.

For example, if you have residents that regularly come from the same institutions, does the rate of completeness or accuracy vary from different institutions? If so, is one process more successful than another? What sorts of data are always most challenging? Are there common bottlenecks regardless of where the learners are from?

When it comes to credentialing, there may never be a foolproof solution. Reflecting on your current process can be helpful. Taking time to reexamine your process on a routine basis can uncover gaps or give you another perspective. Here’s a few things to consider:

Is your credentialing workflow up to date?

Reviewing your current process with fresh eyes can be a first step to identifying possible opportunities for improvement. Steps could be missing or not clear and they just need a slight revision. Decision points in your workflow may have changed, other questions may need to be considered or the order may have changed – a decision is earlier or later than in the past.

Have you reviewed the workflow together?

Taking the time to walk through each step and decision point in your workflow together can be well worth the effort. Hearing each other’s questions can lead to greater understanding and new ideas. Reviewing the rationale for each step grounds everyone in the process. Having the process as the focal point for review allows everyone to see the process with a more objective lens and can lead to greater common understanding for the whole team.

Does everyone understand the affiliates workflow?

If learners may come frequently from certain institutions, it could be helpful to better understand what they do before they send learners to you. Recognizing the mutual benefit, reach out to your partner institutions and see if there is more you can learn. If you can, build or further trust by sharing some of your workflow challenges. Ask where they have challenges and see if there are opportunities to help one another. Having a candid conversation while reinforcing common goals can build more trust and ultimately lead to less error.

Are there other ways to make the process more efficient?

Reflecting on the current process can lead to greater insights. There may be other ways to improve the process. Perhaps other departments with common goals would be willing to partner. Maybe some steps can be consolidated. Maybe some steps can be automated. Tools like NI’s Resident Sharing can significantly streamline the workflow, reduce data collection time and data entry errors. NI’s Managed Services can provide you with further insights with reports and expertise that can help you pinpoint trends and monitor the process going forward. Perhaps shifts in role for team members could also reduce errors or streamline decision making.

Regardless of what you uncover, consider that workflows can either enhance or undermine trust. Taking the time for a good examination of the entire process can lead to greater understanding, more trust and much greater efficiency.