But if the patients keep coming, something else begins to happen. The top of the efficiency curve is reached. At some point even the best battle-tested staff will become completely overwhelmed. When this happens, they are swept up and over the bell-shaped curve by the flow of patients, only to be dropped off the back side and onto the rocks below. Mistakes become commonplace. There are just too many interruptions, too many lab results, too many phones ringing, and too many family members yelling about what is taking so long. The efficiency of the entire operation slows down until it finally
...more
