Clinical Pathways for Effective and Appropriate Care

Clinical pathways are a methodology for the mutual decision making and organization of care for a well-defined group of patients during a well-defined period. Defining characteristics of clinical pathways includes: an explicit statement of the goals and key elements of care based on evidence, best practice, and patient expectations; the facilitation of the communication, coordination of roles, and sequencing the activities of the multidisciplinary care team, patients and their relatives; the documentation, monitoring, and evaluation of variances and outcomes; and the identification of the appropriate resources.