A Process-Centered Approach to the Description of Clinical Pathways-Forms and Determinants

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Systems Management
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Clinical pathways are crucial for standardizing care but often lack flexibility.
• Existing Hospital Information Systems (HIS) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) may not adequately support dynamic clinical pathway presentation.
• Physician input is essential for optimizing HIS/EMR usability and clinical workflow integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the need for variability in clinical pathway presentation across implementation phases.
• To define physician-preferred presentation formats within HIS/EMR systems.
• To determine factors influencing the selection of clinical pathway description forms.

Main Methods:

• Pilot exploratory survey study conducted in a large Polish multi-specialization hospital.
• Survey sample included 28 department heads and a pediatric ward medical team.
• Descriptive analysis of collected survey data.

Main Results:

• Physicians require clinical pathway presentation formats to change dynamically based on the diagnostic-therapeutic process phase.
• Key determinants for selecting specific presentation forms were identified.
• The study confirms the need for adaptable user interfaces in clinical decision support systems.

Conclusions:

• Physician-reported needs support the variability of clinical pathway presentation in HIS/EMR systems.
• Further research is warranted into HIS/EMR ergonomics, usability, and dynamic clinical pathway management.
• This pilot study provides foundational insights for optimizing clinical pathway display and physician interaction with health IT systems.