With all the developments and improved treatments in every area of medicine, it can be difficult for physicians to keep up with the most current and effective therapies in their areas of specialization. So how can a patient know whether they are getting the highest level of quality of care?  After all, patients rely on the expertise of their doctors.  This is one reason why health plans and other healthcare organizations are asking physicians to develop and use Care Pathways, sometimes called Clinical Pathways.

These pathways use evidence-based medical guidelines as their foundation.  With such an approach, appropriate diagnostic testing and treatments for a clinical situation are determined by a team of expert specialists based upon the most recent, scientifically valid medical research that is relevant to the situation.  For example for cancer care, a team of oncologists, usually representing their national specialty board, review the medical studies of the latest cancer research and judge the value of the different tests and treatments for the most common kinds of cancer.  They then make recommendations or guidelines that are published and shared with the rest of the oncology specialists throughout the country to guide them in providing their patients with care that will more likely produce better outcomes.

These evidence-based care recommendations and guidelines sometimes can’t be easily applied in clinical practice as written.  That’s where Care Pathways come in.  Physicians and other clinicians who practice together take these evidence-based recommendations and turn them into a practical approach that they can use where they practice.  These are the Care Pathways that everyone in the practice or hospital follows to make sure that the best care is delivered.  The more innovative and quality-focused practices and healthcare organizations use computer systems to track how well these pathways are followed.  Then they routinely look at these as quality measures to gauge how well they are doing and make improvements to their processes to improve their outcomes.

I think that these Care Pathways hold the promise of increasing quality at the practice level faster than any other quality improvement methodology.  What do you think?  Leave a comment.  After all, it’s your healthcare we’re talking about.

For Your Health – Dr. Bob