---
title: "What Is Workflow? Dental Practice Glossary | Copeland Consulting Services"
description: "A workflow is the order of tasks and hand-offs that move a job from start to finish, including who does each step and what information passes between people."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/workflow
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Practice management

# Workflow

A workflow is the order of tasks and hand-offs that move a job from start to finish, including who does each step and what information passes between people.

AHRQ defines workflow as the sequence of physical and mental tasks performed by various people within and between work environments. In a dental office, one workflow might run from a patient's call through scheduling, check-in, treatment, check-out and billing. AHRQ also reports that research on health IT shows delays in patient care, billing and communication are likely if workflow is not taken into account when new software arrives. Mapping a workflow on paper, step by step, shows where hand-offs fail. That map can then become a [standard operating procedure](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/standard-operating-procedure) or a change to [practice systems](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-systems).

[Next stepPractice consulting with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=consulting)

## Related terms

-   [Practice systems](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-systems)
-   [Standard operating procedure](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/standard-operating-procedure)
-   [Practice assessment](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/practice-assessment)
-   [Revenue cycle](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/revenue-cycle)

## Sources

1.  [AHRQ Digital Healthcare Research, What is workflow?](https://digital.ahrq.gov/health-it-tools-and-resources/evaluation-resources/workflow-assessment-health-it-toolkit/workflow)
2.  [AHRQ Digital Healthcare Research, What is workflow?](https://digital.ahrq.gov/health-it-tools-and-resources/evaluation-resources/workflow-assessment-health-it-toolkit/workflow)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)