Efficacy of a clinical pathway for patients with thyroid cancer.

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Efficacy of a clinical pathway for patients with thyroid cancer.

Head Neck. 2018 Apr 10;:

Authors: Kwon H, Lee JH, Woo J, Lim W, Moon BI, Paik NS

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Clinical pathways have been proposed as a way to improve organizational efficiency and maximize patient outcomes. However, little is known as to whether a clinical pathway is effective for thyroid cancer.
METHODS: The study subjects included 216 patients who were managed after clinical pathway implementation and 145 control patients. Length of stay, cost per patient, and nurses' satisfaction were compared in the 2 groups.
RESULTS: Mean length of stay was 0.8 days shorter in the clinical pathway group than in the control group (2.9 vs 3.7 days; P = .023). Cost per patient was also lower in the clinical pathway than in the control group (USD $3953.00 vs USD $4636.00; P < .001). Nurses' overall satisfaction scores improved from 71.6% before to 82.5% after implementation of the clinical pathway and their job characteristics scores increased from 61.1% to 75.0%.
CONCLUSION: Implementation of a clinical pathway for thyroid cancer can improve nurses' satisfaction with reduction of hospital stay and costs.

PMID: 29637689 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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