System and method for managing workflow

A computer-implemented method for managing workflow including assigning tasks to medical staff in a health care facility, the method comprising

• receiving information indicating that a person on the medical staff has completed an assigned task,
• ascertaining the person's location in the healthcare facility,
• executing a shortest-path algorithm to determine at least one path length between the person's location and at least one other location associated with at least one other task that the person is capable of performing, and
• assigning a new task to the person based on a set of criteria including the at least one path length and including an amount of time that a task has remained uncompleted, wherein a task that is farther away from the person is assigned to the person as the new task if it has remained uncompleted for a threshold amount of time despite the fact that the person is closer to at least one other location having an associated task, and wherein the new task assigned to the person is a task that is closest in location to the person if the threshold amount of time has not elapsed for any tasks that are farther away from the person.