Projects / Programmes
THE IMPACT OF INTEGRATED CLINICAL PATHWAYS ON PATIENT OUTCOMES, COMMUNICATION AND COST EFFICIENCY
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.03.00 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
|
| 3.08.00 |
Medical sciences |
Public health (occupational safety) |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
| 3.03 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
Health sciences |
health, the elderly, integrated health and social care of the elderly, clinical pathway, communication, cost effectiveness
Researchers (18)
Organisations (3)
Abstract
Demographic ageing and related health problems are one of the most serious challenges facing most European countries, including Slovenia. The elderly are a very diverse group in terms of health and self-care and, as a result, have diverse social health needs. The indication for admission of an elderly person cannot be of a purely social nature and the hospital may not, for social reasons, extend the elderly's stay. Questions arise as to how hospitals are adapting to the current situation in terms of ensuring the quality of care for older patients, developing an integrated treatment model. At the global level, integrated clinical pathways are being used as a key tool for developing the quality of integrated healthcare for the elderly in the hospital as a record of the patient's path across the hospital's health and social treatment or business process, understood from a management perspective. A review of existing studies indicates that there are very different and specific impacts of clinical pathways on patient healthcare, but the key factors of impact are the following: patient outcomes, team and patient communication, and cost-effectiveness (Allen, 2009; Allen et al., 2009; Bates et al., 2009; Deneckere et al., 2012; Everink et al., 2018). Existing research has mainly been based on self-assessment by experts and narrow research approaches. However, there is no research that measures the impact of integrated clinical pathways, which are crucial because they involve comprehensive patient-centred integrated health & social care treatment. Because existing studies neglected to examine the impact of the integrated clinical pathway on patient outcomes, team and patient communication, and cost-effectiveness, the project tries to fill this research gap with an interdisciplinary approach. A case study will be conducted before and after the pilot implementation of the integrated clinical pathway. In the selected hospital (General Hospital Novo mesto), which is the end-user of the study results, the impact of the introduction of an integrated clinical pathway by measuring patient outcomes, team communication, leadership and patients, and cost-effectiveness before and after the introduction of an integrated clinical pathway will be measured. A comprehensive research approach will be used, including quantitative (survey among healthcare professionals) and qualitative data collection (individual interviews and focus group interviews with healthcare professionals, hospital management and patients), and cost-effectiveness analysis. The relevance of the development of science is clearly demonstrated by filling the international research gap in (integrated) clinical pathways with evidence of the impact of integrated clinical pathways on patient outcomes, communication and cost-effectiveness, and upgrading the theory of integrated clinical pathways as a quality assurance tool. The project is the first to measure the key elements of impact on health & social care treatment using a holistic interdisciplinary approach (health sciences, sociology, economics, communication science) and qualitative and quantitative data collection, taking into account all key actors (healthcare professionals, management and patients). The direct impact of the project is evident in its clear application value, not only for the hospital where the pilot study will be conducted and which will be the end-user of project’s results, but also as an application of scientific findings, and developed and evaluated integrated clinical pathways in the Slovenian and international healthcare system. Cost-effectiveness results can have a long-term and powerful impact on the health and social care system.
