FAQ - What is an integrated care pathway?

Answer

Care pathways are plans of care that outline the sequence and timing of clinical interventions for professional staff caring for a specific patient group.  Multidisciplinary plans of care are known as integrated care pathways (ICPs), and they may contain both clinical and non-clinical interventions.  The key features of ICPs are that they are:

• Developed by a multidisciplinary team
• Based on evidence
• Designed to meet local needs and constraints
• Consistent
• Offer variance tracking

A care pathway is documented (preferably electronically) either as a flow chart or protocol, which maps the movement of a patient through a care plan, often from diagnosis through to final treatment, discharge and follow up.

Care pathways are one of the tools used for continuous quality improvement in healthcare, and their place has been indicated in the IM&T strategy and quality initiatives (the various white papers and related documents can be accessed via either the Department of Health or NHS Information Authority web site). 

Care pathways tend to be developed by individual organisations, rather than at a national level. Until recently, individual pathways were only accessible to those that used them, but now a care pathways database is available through the NeLH. It contains over 2000 care pathways in use, or under development, in the UK. It is a good source of information and should help to prevent duplication of effort.

Electronic patient records (EPRs) have a close relationship with care pathways. In the future it should be possible to derive electronic integrated care pathways (EICPs) directly from EPRs. The relationship between EPRs and EICPs has been formalised in the current NHS information plans (example 1 and example 2).

Electronic care pathways as well as paper-based care pathways will, arguably, lead to higher quality and more cost effective health care.

The multidisciplinary nature of ICPs makes them suitable for devising care plans and information flows across sector boundaries, where several agencies are involved in the care process. As well as introducing ICP technology across these boundaries, it will be essential for everyone involved in the pathways to agree on working practices, responsibilities and their impact, in order to be successful.

The National Pathways Association (NPA) provides members with a network of professionals interested in developing, sharing and promoting the use of care pathways.
Information on how to subscribe to the Journal of Integrated Care Pathways.

Disclaimer: This FAQ was written by Christopher Smith and does not reflect an official endorsement by the HEA or any other organisation.  Any questions or queries should be sent to: enquiries@medev.ac.uk

Last updated: 04 July 2011