Procedure for Mapping Information Flow: A Case of Surgery Management Process

Abstract

This chapter considers information flow as an important dimension of information quality and proposes a procedure for mapping information flow. The surgery management process (SMP) of a public hospital is used as a case in which to illustrate the steps of the developed procedure. The chapter discusses the issues that make information mapping of SMP a challenging task and explains the difficulties associated with traditional process mapping techniques in determining the interdependencies and information flow within and between various elements of SMP activities. The proposed procedure integrates a structured process mapping technique known as IDEF0 with another structured technique referred to as dependency structured matrix (DSM) to map the information flow within SMP. The chapter indicates that it is possible to reduce feedback from other activities that affect the performance of SMP by administratively controlling the information flow through certain activities of SMP.