Documentation of clinical workflow: a key step in a plan to facilitate implementation of an Electronic Patient Record.

After a year of preparation, the UT Dental Branch implemented an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) and a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) for digital imaging. Central to the preparatory process was documentation of existing clinic workflow as a set of detailed flowcharts, which eased cultural and logistical changes and had the immediate benefit of increasing system efficiencies.