Difference between revisions of "Journal:Experimental application of business process management technology to manage clinical pathways: A pediatric kidney transplantation follow-up case"

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These objectives have become vital in view of the limited ability of health organizations to adopt information technology (IT) due to the complexity of these organizations and their fragmented internal structures. In other words, healthcare institutions have been managed individually using ad hoc solutions. The critical elements in healthcare management are variability due to different availability of healthcare services, scarce use of medical evidence, and the phenomena of professional uncertainty. This has led to a slow evolution in healthcare management and optimization because new methodologies, technologies, and practices have not been implemented in healthcare environments at the same rate as in other sectors.<ref name="EnglandInformation00">{{cite journal |title=Information technology adoption in health care: When organisations and technology collide |journal=Australian Health Review |author=England, I.; Stewart, D.; Walkers, S. |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=176–85 |year=2000 |doi=10.1071/AH000176 |pmid=11186051}}</ref> This aspect is critical because the main objective of health care services is to reduce cost without reducing the quality of patient care. To reach the best cost-quality ratio, healthcare management has to reach the same level as other services in terms of efficiency; to do this we will need to follow the same path as other sectors, not hesitating to implement new and available technologies and methodologies.
These objectives have become vital in view of the limited ability of health organizations to adopt information technology (IT) due to the complexity of these organizations and their fragmented internal structures. In other words, healthcare institutions have been managed individually using ad hoc solutions. The critical elements in healthcare management are variability due to different availability of healthcare services, scarce use of medical evidence, and the phenomena of professional uncertainty. This has led to a slow evolution in healthcare management and optimization because new methodologies, technologies, and practices have not been implemented in healthcare environments at the same rate as in other sectors.<ref name="EnglandInformation00">{{cite journal |title=Information technology adoption in health care: When organisations and technology collide |journal=Australian Health Review |author=England, I.; Stewart, D.; Walkers, S. |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=176–85 |year=2000 |doi=10.1071/AH000176 |pmid=11186051}}</ref> This aspect is critical because the main objective of health care services is to reduce cost without reducing the quality of patient care. To reach the best cost-quality ratio, healthcare management has to reach the same level as other services in terms of efficiency; to do this we will need to follow the same path as other sectors, not hesitating to implement new and available technologies and methodologies.
One such methodology developed in and established internationally since the 1980s is the implementation of clinical pathways to guide evidence-based healthcare.<ref name="KinsmanWhat10">{{cite journal |title=What is a clinical pathway? Development of a definition to inform the debate |journal=BMC Medicine |author=Kinsman, L.; Rotter, T.; James, E. et al. |volume=8 |pages=31 |year=2010 |doi=10.1186/1741-7015-8-31 |pmid=20507550 |pmc=PMC2893088}}</ref> Clinical pathways are clinical management tools used to manage the quality of health care through the standardization of care processes. Clinical pathways are an evidence-based response to specific health care problems and provide physicians and nurses with a pre-established care plan, devised according to international standards and developed by specialists in the field. The application of these standards helps professionals offer patients the best possible care plan, without needing to devise an individual care plan for each patient, thus avoiding human error and saving time for both physicians and patients.<ref name="PanellaReducing03">{{cite journal |title=Reducing clinical variations with clinical pathways: Do pathways work? |journal=International Journal for Quality in Health Care |author=Panella, M.; Marchisio, S.; Di Stanislao, F. |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=509-21 |year=2003 |doi=10.1093/intqhc/mzg057 |pmid=14660534}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 20:37, 13 November 2017

Full article title Experimental application of business process management technology to manage clinical pathways: A pediatric kidney transplantation follow-up case
Journal BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Author(s) Andellini, Martina; Riesgo, Sandra Fernandez; Morolli, Federica; Ritrovato, Matteo; Cosoli, Piero; Petruzzellis, Silverio; Rosso, Nicola
Author affiliation(s) Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Openwork Srl
Primary contact Email: martina dot andellini at opbg dot net
Year published 2017
Volume and issue 17 (1)
Page(s) 151
DOI 10.1186/s12911-017-0546-x
ISSN 1472-6947
Distribution license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Website https://bmcmedinformdecismak.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12911-017-0546-x
Download https://bmcmedinformdecismak.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12911-017-0546-x (PDF)

Abstract

Background: To test the application of business process management (BPM) technology to manage clinical pathways, using a pediatric kidney transplantation as case study, and to identify the benefits obtained from using this technology.

Methods: Using a business process management platform, we implemented a specific application to manage the clinical pathway of pediatric patients, and we monitored the activities of the coordinator in charge of case management during a six-month period (from June 2015 to November 2015) using two methodologies: the traditional procedure and the one under study.

Results: The application helped physicians and nurses to optimize the amount of time and resources devoted to management purposes. In particular, time reduction was close to 60%. In addition, the reduction of data duplication, the integration of event management, and the efficient collection of data improved the quality of the service.

Conclusions: The use of business process management technology, usually related to well-defined processes with high management costs, is an established procedure in multiple environments; its use in healthcare, however, is innovative. The use of already accepted clinical pathways is known to improve outcomes. The combination of these two techniques, well established in their respective areas of application, could represent a revolution in clinical pathway management. The study has demonstrated that the use of this technology in a clinical environment, using a proper architecture, and identifying a well-defined process leads to real benefits in terms of resource optimization and quality improvement.

Keywords: clinical pathway, kidney transplantation, pediatrics, case management, business process management

Background

During recent years, two of the most important goals in healthcare have been the optimization of resources and the improvement of efficiency and quality.

These objectives have become vital in view of the limited ability of health organizations to adopt information technology (IT) due to the complexity of these organizations and their fragmented internal structures. In other words, healthcare institutions have been managed individually using ad hoc solutions. The critical elements in healthcare management are variability due to different availability of healthcare services, scarce use of medical evidence, and the phenomena of professional uncertainty. This has led to a slow evolution in healthcare management and optimization because new methodologies, technologies, and practices have not been implemented in healthcare environments at the same rate as in other sectors.[1] This aspect is critical because the main objective of health care services is to reduce cost without reducing the quality of patient care. To reach the best cost-quality ratio, healthcare management has to reach the same level as other services in terms of efficiency; to do this we will need to follow the same path as other sectors, not hesitating to implement new and available technologies and methodologies.

One such methodology developed in and established internationally since the 1980s is the implementation of clinical pathways to guide evidence-based healthcare.[2] Clinical pathways are clinical management tools used to manage the quality of health care through the standardization of care processes. Clinical pathways are an evidence-based response to specific health care problems and provide physicians and nurses with a pre-established care plan, devised according to international standards and developed by specialists in the field. The application of these standards helps professionals offer patients the best possible care plan, without needing to devise an individual care plan for each patient, thus avoiding human error and saving time for both physicians and patients.[3]

References

  1. England, I.; Stewart, D.; Walkers, S. (2000). "Information technology adoption in health care: When organisations and technology collide". Australian Health Review 23 (3): 176–85. doi:10.1071/AH000176. PMID 11186051. 
  2. Kinsman, L.; Rotter, T.; James, E. et al. (2010). "What is a clinical pathway? Development of a definition to inform the debate". BMC Medicine 8: 31. doi:10.1186/1741-7015-8-31. PMC PMC2893088. PMID 20507550. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2893088. 
  3. Panella, M.; Marchisio, S.; Di Stanislao, F. (2003). "Reducing clinical variations with clinical pathways: Do pathways work?". International Journal for Quality in Health Care 15 (6): 509-21. doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzg057. PMID 14660534. 

Notes

This presentation is faithful to the original, with only a few minor changes to presentation. In several cases the PubMed ID was missing and was added to make the reference more useful. Grammar and vocabulary were cleaned up to make the article easier to read.