Question-driven methodology for analyzing emergency room processes using process mining

Abstract

In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Emergency Rooms (ER), it is important to provide answers to frequently-posed questions regarding all relevant processes executed therein. Process mining provides different techniques and tools that help to obtain insights into the analyzed processes and help to answer these questions. However, ER experts require certain guidelines in order to carry out process mining effectively. This article proposes a number of solutions, including a classification of the frequently-posed questions about ER processes, a data reference model to guide the extraction of data from the information systems that support these processes and a question-driven methodology specific for ER. The applicability of the latter is illustrated by means of a case study of an ER service in Chile, in which ER experts were able to obtain a better understanding of how they were dealing with episodes related to specific pathologies, triage severity and patient discharge destinations.