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Work Flow Analysis: Applying Sutton’s Law in the Diabetes Care Workplace

	Introduction

 
One of the classic "laws" of medical training is Sutton’s Law. This colloquial maxim was named incorrectly after the bank robber Willie Sutton, who was alleged to have said that he robbed banks "because that’s where the money is." (Actually, it was Clyde Barrow who made this remark.) In medicine, it encourages health professionals to investigate the most likely causes of presenting symptoms and clinical problems by searching "where the money is"—where the most likely sources of pathology may be found.

Sutton’s Law has at least as much applicability today in the business management of diabetes care as it does in clinical practice. Maximizing financial stability in the provision of diabetes care is important in the maintenance of provider organizations. We have to "go where the money is" to maximize the yield.

Cost containment is one critical area. As noted previously in this department, diabetes care is a process with increasing complexity and expected quality funded by decreasing reimbursement. Therefore, minimizing cost and maximizing efficiency is essential.

Cost containment through maximum efficiency requires identifying and applying strategies and tools that will enhance the performance and efficiency of staff while providing quality patient care. In general, these approaches may be grouped as "work flow analyses"—assessments of staff work patterns.

Work patterns are not often analyzed in provider organizations, but such evaluations may yield substantial improvements in efficiency and cost. The complexity of diabetes care requires various sorts of interactions and care processes with each patient. Making the whole process more efficient can allow for a reduced cost of service per patient and permit service to an increased number of patients per unit time. The more patients served per unit time, the lower the cost of service per patient.

In diabetes care, numerous opportunities exist to improve staff efficiency. These include optimum . . . [Full Text of this Article]

	Frequent Opportunities in Staff Work Flow Improvement

 

	Patient-Physician Consultation Improvement

 

	The Effect of Information Technology on Work Flow

 

	Case Example: How an Information Appliance Can Improve Work Flow

 
Findings
System performance.
Medical staff satisfaction.
Patient satisfaction.

	Conclusions

 

	Acknowledgments

 

	Footnotes

 

	REFERENCES

 

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				S. B. Leichter Cost and Reimbursement as Determinants of the Quality of Diabetes Care: I. Direct Cost Determinants Clin. Diabetes, July 1, 2001; 19(3): 142 - 144. [Full Text] [PDF]