Critical pathways as an essential part of a disease management program

Disease management is becoming a common tool utilized by health systems for managing patients with chronic diseases. Part of the success of disease management can be attributed to the use of critical pathways. Critical pathways are the tools that prompt decisions to be made based on clinical practice guidelines. In addition to allowing nursing case managers to have significant input into patient treatment decisions, critical pathways assist disease management programs in realizing significant cost savings as well as assisting in outcomes management activities.