Managed care has been proposed as a system for decreasing the cost and improving the quality of care to hospitalized patients. Critical paths, which time and sequence nursing and medical interventions, are an integral part of managed care. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationships between use of the critical paths and selected patient outcomes: length of hospital stay, mobility, pain medication regimen, and bowel regimen. A retrospective record review of hospital care for adults, having total hip replacements (n = 30), and total knee replacements (n = 30) suggested that the critical paths were used more intensively with patients having knee replacements. Although significant relationships between the intensity of use of the critical paths and patient outcomes were not found in this study, some of the findings were in the predicted direction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/291565 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Knutson, Sharon Ann, 1963- |
| Contributors | Gerber, Rose M. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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