European Quality of Care Pathways Study on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Launched by EUROPEAN PATHWAY ASSOCIATION · Aug 19, 2009

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Healthcare is changing towards more patient focused care. The organization of the care process related to quality, efficiency and accessibility is one of the main areas of interest within the next years for clinicians, healthcare managers and policy makers. A main method to (re)organize a care process is the development and implementation of a care pathway. Care pathways, also known as clinical pathways or critical pathways, are used worldwide for a variety of patient groups. The European Pathway Association (E-P-A) defines a care pathway as: "A complex intervention for the mutual decision ...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• Inclusion criteria on cluster level are:
• • 1. Written agreement to participate in the study;
• • 2. Agreement that a care pathway for COPD will not be developed and used within the time frame of the study when randomized in the control group.
• Inclusion criteria on patient level are:
• • 1. Written informed consent;
• • 2. All consecutive admissions with COPD exacerbation;
• • 3. Hospitalization for at least 48 hours;
• • 4. Moderate, severe or very severe COPD;
• • 5. Each patient will be included only once in the study at initial hospitalization, even if the patient had been hospitalized more than once.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• Exclusion criteria on patient level:
• • 1. Admission required to intensive care unit;
• • 2. Need for Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (IPVV).
• Inclusion criteria on multidisciplinary team level:
• • 1. Team members are involved in direct patient care responsibilities for COPD;
• • 2. Minimum representation of the core disciplines according to COPD literature;