What are the effects of clinical pathways in cancer management

Summary

Background: Disease management pathways may be divided into patient pathways and clinical pathways. A clinical pathway is a documented sequence of clinical interventions assisting a patient with a specific condition to progress to a desired outcome. Findings: Clinical pathways have generally been found to improve patient outcomes, reduce hospital length of stay, and reduce care costs. The evidence points to no significant change in readmission rates. Conclusion: Clinical pathways as a mode of management generally provide the breadth and depth of information needed to make a good decision at the patient, institution, or health-system level.

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