The purposes of this study are to determine whether clinical pathways: 1)improve the quality of the care provided to patients affected by stroke in terms of clinical outcomes, efficiency continuity of care and patients' satisfaction; 2) facilitate the use of evidence based medicine in clinical practice.
The coordination of care has been proved to be able to improve prognosis in acute stroke patients. Prompt identification of symptoms, organised timely and efficient transportation towards appropriate facilities, has become essential part of effective treatment, as well as organized rehabilitation. The importance of organized stroke care in facilitating recovery has been recognized for the last 10 years, but it is still unclear how organized care contributes to improved outcomes. Since clinical pathways aim to promote evidence- and guideline-based care, improve the organisation and efficiency of care, and reduce cost, their implementation may be a method for achieving the organizational standards required to grant appropriate care in stroke. Even though in the past decade, care pathways have been increasingly implemented as a tool in acute stroke care and stroke rehabilitation the evidence supports partially the use of clinical pathways in stroke because very little prospective controlled data demonstrated their effectiveness through the continuum of the care. Our study was designed in order to conduct a rigorous evaluation of clinical pathways for treatment of acute stroke patients in different types of organized stroke care.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
448
Clinical pathways are a methodology for the mutual decision making and organization of care for a well-defined group of patients during a well-defined period. Defining characteristics of clinical pathways includes: an explicit statement of the goals and key elements of care based on evidence, best practice, and patient expectations; the facilitation of the communication, coordination of roles, and sequencing the activities of the multidisciplinary care team, patients and their relatives; the documentation, monitoring, and evaluation of variances and outcomes; and the identification of the appropriate resources.
Mortality
Time frame: 30 days after hospital admission
Disability
Time frame: At hospital discharge
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