BACKGROUND: A clinical pathway support system on the Internet (CPSSI) has been designed for creating and implementing a web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy. This investigation assessed the effects of the web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy on practice variations. METHODS: From June 2002 to Jun 2003, 22 consecutive patients with localized prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy were treated according to the web-based clinical pathway. The treatment results were compared with an identically sized sample of patients treated during the year before implementing the web-based clinical pathway. Variations before and following the implementation of the web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy were also assessed. The CPSSI automatically measured pathway variations and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: After implementing the web-based clinical pathway, the average hospital stay was reduced significantly (p=0.0001). The mean number of variations also differed markedly (p=0.0002). CONCLUSION: This study concludes that the CPSSI-based clinical pathway support system may provide a good tool for creating and implementing a web-based clinical pathway. After implementing the web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy, practice variations and length of stay were reduced considerably. Moreover, automatically assessing the effects of web-based clinical pathway implementation can enhance the quality of patient care.
BACKGROUND: A clinical pathway support system on the Internet (CPSSI) has been designed for creating and implementing a web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy. This investigation assessed the effects of the web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy on practice variations. METHODS: From June 2002 to Jun 2003, 22 consecutive patients with localized prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy were treated according to the web-based clinical pathway. The treatment results were compared with an identically sized sample of patients treated during the year before implementing the web-based clinical pathway. Variations before and following the implementation of the web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy were also assessed. The CPSSI automatically measured pathway variations and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: After implementing the web-based clinical pathway, the average hospital stay was reduced significantly (p=0.0001). The mean number of variations also differed markedly (p=0.0002). CONCLUSION: This study concludes that the CPSSI-based clinical pathway support system may provide a good tool for creating and implementing a web-based clinical pathway. After implementing the web-based clinical pathway for radical prostatectomy, practice variations and length of stay were reduced considerably. Moreover, automatically assessing the effects of web-based clinical pathway implementation can enhance the quality of patient care.
Authors: Hiba Abou-Haidar; Samuel Abourbih; David Braganza; Talal Al Qaoud; Lawrence Lee; Franco Carli; Deborah Watson; Armen G Aprikian; Simon Tanguay; Liane S Feldman; Wassim Kassouf Journal: Can Urol Assoc J Date: 2014-11 Impact factor: 1.862
Authors: Pamala A Pawloski; Gabriel A Brooks; Matthew E Nielsen; Barbara A Olson-Bullis Journal: J Natl Compr Canc Netw Date: 2019-04-01 Impact factor: 11.908
Authors: Maria Kelly; Linda Sharp; Fiona Dwane; Tracy Kelleher; Frances J Drummond; Harry Comber Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2013-07-02 Impact factor: 2.655