[Electronic clinical pathway for community acquired pneumonia (e-CP CAP)]

Abstract

Clinical pathway is a useful strategy for the management of risk and cost for medical care. We developed an electronic clinical pathway (e-CP) for community acquired pneumonia (CAP). We programmed all medical procedures, including physical and laboratory examinations, medical care, prescriptions, diets, limitations of activities, and patient education on a computer. With e-CP, we achieved 30% cost reduction (34048 points vs. 24338 points), 25% shortening of admission duration (10.77 days vs. 8.03 days) and 21% shortening of the duration of intravenous antibiotics administration (8.22 days vs. 6.47 days). Introduction of computer-aided clinical pathway for CAP may contribute to the standardization of medical care for patients with CAP.