Clinical pathways for primary care: current use, interest and perceived usability.

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Primary Health Care
• Clinical Decision Support

Background:

• Translating clinical evidence into daily practice is a significant challenge in healthcare.
• Clinical pathways offer a potential solution to bridge the gap between evidence and practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the interest and usability of clinical pathways among primary care professionals.
• To evaluate the impact of clinical pathways on the accuracy and confidence of clinical decision-making.

Main Methods:

• An online survey was administered to primary care professionals.
• Interest in clinical pathways was assessed before and after participants engaged with pathway-associated questions.
• Perceived usability was measured using the System Usability Scale, and answer accuracy/confidence were compared pre- and post-pathway use.

Main Results:

• Only 17.4% of participants had previously used clinical pathways, indicating low current utilization.
• Interest in daily or weekly use of clinical pathways exceeded 75% among respondents.
• Accuracy and confidence in answering clinical questions significantly improved after using the pathways.

Conclusions:

• Primary care clinicians express a strong interest in clinical pathways despite low current adoption rates.
• Clinical pathways demonstrably enhance the accuracy and confidence of clinicians when addressing patient care questions.