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SALT PERSPECTIVES

Before automating a workflow, understand the exception

A problem-first framework for examining repeated work, ownership and exceptions before deciding to automate.

Start with one recurring event: a referral arrives without the documents needed to take the next step. Ask who notices, who follows up, where the status is recorded and what happens when no answer arrives.

Map those decisions before choosing a tool. A form can collect information, but it cannot resolve an unclear responsibility. A reminder can prompt action, but it cannot decide whether a clinical exception is appropriate.

A useful first scope describes the entry condition, the next owner, the exception queue and the evidence that the task is complete. It also records which decisions need human review.

Validate the proposed flow with the people doing the work. If the core problem is policy, staffing or an ambiguous handoff, a software build may not be the right next step. Technology earns its place when it makes an agreed workflow easier to carry out and inspect.

This is a design perspective, not a clinical recommendation or a report of measured project outcomes.

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