Critical Pathways are sweeping the nation's hospitals and integrated healthcare systems. They are helping to improve patient care, lower resource utilization, increase patient satisfaction and develop cohesive interdisciplinary teams of health care professionals. The most notable development has been the evolution of critical pathways in integrated delivery settings and managed care systems. The growing pressure from managed care organizations and now employers is compelling Hospital Administrators to initiate critical pathways as a tactic to reduce their costs. Managing the costs of inpatient and outpatient hospital care while maintaining high quality care poses unique challenges to the healthcare industry. In the past, hospitals did not have programs that incorporated cost reduction and quality measures simultaneously.

Traditional cost control measures, such as inventory reductions and layoffs, have provided only short-term solutions and in many instances have even created additional problems. Hospitals have had an even harder time measuring quality. Hospitals have traditionally relied on a theory know as "quality by inspection" which is also know as the "theory of bad apples". The premise is that if the hospital removes all the "bad" systems, processes and individuals, then quality outcomes will result. Purchasers and consumers of healthcare are now forcing hospitals to become accountable for providing low cost, high quality care. Critical pathways are one way for a hospital to meet this challenge. USSC's Critical Pathways program offers a simple step-by-step approach to critical pathway development for laparoscopic procedures. As a mechanism for organizing the diagnosis and treatment of patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery the program will help:

Promote interdepartmental coordination

Reduce variation in care

Sequence services appropriately

Prevent delays, duplication and costs

Involve patients in their care

USSC will work with your medical and nursing staffs to create a pathway uniquely tailored to meet the needs of your patients and your institution. The program is designed to develop a critical pathway in approximately six meetings. After using the USSC Critical Pathways Program, your staff will be better prepared to replicate this user-friendly template with many other patient diagnoses. USSC's Critical Pathways program incorporates a number of methods currently employed by health care practitioners. The program is: Fact based and data driven, using data from clinical and financial resources to aid in decision making. Multifunctional involving physicians, nursing staff, other care givers and various financial and other personnel. Consistent with TQM initiatives relying on ongoing measurement and updating improvement of the pathway. Process focused viewing delivery of care as a process as opposed to a series of unrelated events. Procedure oriented addressing OR issues and the portion of the overall episode of care where the majority of resources are consumed for surgical cases.

For more information on our Critical Pathways Program, call the Partnering with USSC Hotline (800) 336-0263.