Clinical pathways: effects on professional practice, patient outcomes, length of stay and hospital costs. Cochrane Database Systemati Rev. 2010

Note: there are many different comments from a variety of healthcare professionals and more than a normal number of comments

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Clinical pathways are structured multidisciplinary care plans used by health services to detail essential steps in the care of patients with a specific clinical problem. They aim to link evidence to practice and optimise clinical outcomes whilst maximising clinical efficiency. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of clinical pathways on professional practice, patient outcomes, length of stay and hospital costs.
CONCLUSIONS: Clinical pathways are associated with reduced in-hospital complications and improved documentation without negatively impacting on length of stay and hospital costs.

Why do patients with cancer visit the emergency department near the end of life? - CMAJ

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"Between 2002 and 2005 in Ontario, 91 561 patients died of cancer and were included in our cohort."

"...The other highly ranked diagnoses that were common to both periods were abdominal pain, dyspnea, pneumonia, malaise and fatigue, and pleural effusion. A notable difference between the two time periods was the rank of cardiac arrest, which ranked 16th among diagnoses made for visits during the final two weeks but 61st among those made for visits during the final six months. Palliative care, dehydration and altered level of consciousness ranked much higher for the final two-week period than for the six-month period. No specific code exists for pain-related crisis...".

"Clinical descriptions of patients or families as no longer “coping” at home are common."

Safe Work Hours, Safe Patients | WakeUpDoctor.org

"Other industries responsible for public safety (e.g., the transportation and nuclear power industries) have been subject to federal regulations that limit the number of hours their employees can work for decades."