Clinical Care Pathways

The aim of this text is to provide a comprehensive workbook that defines the tools and methods needed to create, implement and analyze clinical pathways. It provides a discussion of the development of steering committees for determining pathway structure and documentation of methodology.

---

Clinical pathways are rapidly changing the delivery of care across the healthcare continuum and can improve patient care and decrease resource utilization. Reducing fear and improving outcomes are direct results of clinical pathways and patients and patient families experience a higher level of satisfaction because they know what to expect and how to plan for their care. This text aims to provide a comprehensive workbook that defines the tools and methods needed to create, implement and analyze clinical pathways. It includes a discussion of the development of steering committees for determining pathway structure, documentation methodology, education of caregivers, and variance measurement. Team-building skills for creating, implementing and studying a successful pathway are explored, sample charts are used for instructional guidelines and tool explanation, and case studies from hospitals that have successfully implemented pathways are examined.