When clinic work slips, the first instinct is usually to blame the tool.
The EHR is clunky. The inbox is messy. The texting app is noisy. The spreadsheet is cursed.
Sometimes that's true.
But often, the problem is not one tool. It is the handoff between tools.
What is a stack autopsy?
A stack autopsy is a simple review of where work enters, moves, stalls, and dies.
Not a software evaluation. Not a giant implementation project.
Just a clear look at the path patient work takes through your clinic.
Pick one workflow
Start with one workflow, not the entire clinic.
Good candidates:
- new patient onboarding
- lab follow-up
- refill requests
- referrals
- patient messages
- annual labs
- membership billing issues
Then trace the path.
Run the free DPC Stack Autopsy.
The five autopsy questions
- Where does this work start?
- Where is it supposed to go next?
- Who owns it at each step?
- Where does context get lost?
- Where does it most often stall?
That fifth question is the money.
The stall point is usually where your clinic needs a better system. (If you're trying to decide whether the answer is a new tool or a coordination layer, see Keep Your Stack. Kill the Chaos.)
The signs of a broken handoff
Watch for these phrases:
- "I thought someone handled that."
- "Where did that message come in?"
- "Did we ever follow up?"
- "Can you check the spreadsheet?"
- "I have it written down somewhere."
Those are not character flaws.
They are system leaks.
Run the autopsy
We made a free DPC Stack Autopsy worksheet.
Run the free DPC Stack Autopsy.
Turn this into a carousel
- If work keeps slipping, don't buy more software yet.
- Autopsy the workflow.
- Pick one workflow.
- Trace where it starts.
- Trace where it moves.
- Trace where it stalls.
- Ask: who owns each step?
- Ask: where does context get lost?
- The stall point is the system leak.
- Run the free DPC Stack Autopsy.