An academic medical centre's programme to develop clinical pathways to manage health care: focus on acute decompensated heart failure

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a major public health issue and acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a leading cause of hospitalization in the USA. The United States health care delivery system is bound by regulatory agencies requiring strict compliance to key clinical indicators, which are publicly reported. Clinical pathway development is a systematic approach to managing health care that involves a high degree of collaboration between patients, physicians, nurses and various health-care team professionals. The University of California, Irvine Medical Center (UCIMC) developed an evidence-based multidisciplinary pathway for patients with ADHF. This clinical pathway incorporates universally proven assessment and treatment measures in ADHF. Adjunctive to this process are patient and nursing guides to the ADHF pathway. Utilization of this pathway has been shown to significantly impact clinical performance by early identification of potential negative clinical outcomes. Clinical pathways, such as the ADHF pathway, promote clinical excellence in caring for acute and chronic diseases states.