A BPMN Based Notation for the Representation of Workflows in Hospital Protocols

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Informatics
• Process Modeling
• Clinical Workflow Optimization

Background:

• Traditional hospital flowcharts present ambiguities and limitations in conveying specific information.
• Existing notations may not adequately support specialized models like Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a novel flowchart notation for hospital protocols.
• To enhance the clarity and machine-readability of process models in healthcare settings.
• To facilitate direct modeling of HACCP procedures within hospital workflows.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation of Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) extension (BPMNE2) for healthcare applications.
• Validation in the context of hazardous drug (HD) management protocols.
• Usability assessment using the System Usability Scale (SUS) with 47 healthcare professionals and auditors.

Main Results:

• The proposed notation achieved a System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 71, indicating acceptable usability.
• 76.6% of participants expressed a preference for the new notation over the ISO 5807:1985 standard.
• Participant feedback identified specific benefits and drawbacks of the new notation.

Conclusions:

• The novel flowchart notation offers improved clarity and usability for hospital protocols, particularly for HACCP-based processes.
• The notation's machine-understandable format supports integration with software for intelligent monitoring and auditing.
• Healthcare professionals showed a significant preference for migrating to this enhanced notation.