Care pathways are complex interventions to support the interprofessional team in the redesign of their care process. This international cluster randomised trial will analyse the impact of the development and implementation of care pathways on the interprofessional teamwork.
Background Although care pathways are often said to promote teamwork, high-level evidence that supports this statement is lacking. The objective of the European Quality of Care Pathway (EQCP) study is therefore to study the impact of care pathways on interprofessional teamwork. Methods/design An international post-test-only cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (cRCT), combined with process evaluations, will be performed in Belgium, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. Teams caring for Proximale Femur Fracture (PFF) patients and patients hospitalized with an exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) will be randomized into an intervention and control group. The intervention group will implement a care pathway for PFF or COPD containing three active components: a formative evaluation of the actual teams' performance, a set of evidence based key interventions and a training in pathway-development. The control group will provide usual care. As effect measures a set of team input, process and output indicators will be used. Main outcome indicator is the team process indicator relational coordination. Next to these, process measures will be used to evaluate the implementation process. In total, 132 teams agreed to participate, of which 68 were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 64 to the control group. Based on power analysis, a sample of 475 team members per arm is required. To analyze results, multilevel analysis will be performed. Discussion The EQCP-study on teamwork is the first cluster-randomized controlled trial on the impact of care pathways on interprofessional teamwork. Results from our study will enhance understanding on the active components of care pathways. Through this, preferred implementation strategies can be defined.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
984
The intervention group will implement a care pathway for PFF or COPD containing three active components: a formative evaluation of the actual teams' performance, a set of evidence based key interventions and a training in pathway-development.
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Leuven, Belgium
Relational Coordination
Relational coordination describes the quality of communication and functional relations within a interprofessional team with shared goals and interdependent tasks.
Time frame: For average period of 3 months
Perceived Organisation of Care
The perceived organisation of care is a team indicator to measure the actual organisation of the care process. It is measured in a valid and reliable way by using the Care Process Self Evaluation Tool (CPSET).
Time frame: For average period of 3 months
Work engagement
Work engagement is a measure to analyse the level of competence, emotional exhaustion and mental detachement measured with the Burnout Inventory.
Time frame: For average period of 3 months
Team Climate
Team climate is an indicator to measure the team vision, participative safety, support for innovation and task orientation.
Time frame: For average period of 3 months
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