Using variance tracking to improve outcomes and reduce costs.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Clinical Informatics
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Clinical pathways standardize patient care for specific populations.
• Effective utilization of pathways depends on variance tracking—monitoring deviations from the standard care plan.
• Understanding reasons for care variation is crucial for quality improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a healthcare facility's implementation of variance tracking for clinical pathways.
• To analyze the impact of variance tracking on patient outcomes in pulmonary, medical oncology, and nephrology units.
• To identify opportunities for performance improvement through pathway variance analysis.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a variance tracking system for pulmonary, medical oncology, and nephrology patient pathways.
• Documented instances and reasons for patient care deviations from established pathways.
• Tracked avoidable hospital days as a key performance metric.
• Initiated a performance improvement project targeting high-use medical unit pathways.

Main Results:

• Successfully tracked care variances across selected patient populations.
• Identified avoidable hospital days associated with specific pathway deviations.
• Performance improvement initiative led to a significant decrease in average patient length of stay.
• Achieved cost savings exceeding $160,000 through optimized care delivery.

Conclusions:

• Clinical pathway variance tracking provides valuable data for quality improvement.
• Systematic tracking and analysis of care deviations can enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
• This approach offers a measurable strategy for optimizing patient care delivery and resource utilization.