flow chart
Meaning of flow chart: Its real value is that it forces every branch to be stated, including the choices a written paragraph can leave comfortably vague.
Definition of flow chart
A flow chart is a diagram that sets out the steps and decisions in a process, using labeled shapes joined by arrows so the path from beginning to end can be followed at a glance. In health care it is used to lay out clinical protocols, treatment pathways and the sequence of a diagnostic workup.
How is one read?
The shapes are not decorative. Each carries a meaning, and the convention is consistent enough that a chart drawn in one field can be read in another.
| Shape | What it marks |
|---|---|
| Rounded ends | The start or the finish of the process |
| Rectangle | An action or step to be carried out |
| Diamond | A decision point, with a separate arrow leaving it for each possible answer |
| Parallelogram | Information entering or leaving, such as a test result |
| Arrow | The direction of travel from one element to the next |
A well drawn chart has one entry point, no arrow that leads nowhere, and an exit from every decision for every answer, including the answer nobody expected.
Where is it used in medicine?
Emergency and resuscitation protocols are the most familiar example, where a fixed sequence has to be followed under pressure and without discussion. Triage systems sort arrivals by a series of yes or no questions. Clinical practice guidelines commonly summarize pages of text in a single algorithm, since the branch points are what a reader needs at the bedside. Research uses them too: a report of a clinical trial conventionally includes a diagram tracking how many people were assessed, enrolled, assigned to each group and analyzed, which makes dropouts visible rather than buried. Administrative and quality improvement work maps existing processes the same way, often to expose duplicated steps.
What are its limits?
Every diamond assumes the answer is available and unambiguous, and a real situation often supplies neither. A chart also encodes the typical case, so a person with several conditions at once may not fit any single path cleanly. And a chart is only as sound as the evidence behind it, which the clean lines tend to disguise. It should not be confused with a flow sheet, which is a record of measurements taken over time rather than a map of decisions.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The department adopted a flow chart to standardize the initial evaluation of patients presenting with chest pain.
Good to know
A flow chart lays out a general sequence of decisions intended to apply broadly, so its branching points still require judgment about how a specific situation fits within the diagram's categories.