Care pathways production and review checklist: results from an HTA evaluation.

Introduction: The study aims to assess the implications of using a specific checklist in the production and review of care pathways. Care pathways have been developed to plan and standardize clinical practice, although the way they are designed remains unclear.

Methods: This study was implemented through a Health Technology Assessment model, assuming the hospital perspective. The checklist consists of 7 different domains, subdivided into 14 subdomains and 77 items.

Results: After a prioritization phase, our analysis reported a better performance of the checklist in terms of safety [2.00 vs -0.04; p<0.001], effectiveness [1.33 vs 0.00; p<0.001], social and ethical impact [1.15 vs 0.33; p<0.001], and legal perception from healthcare professionals [1.23 vs 0.25; p<0.001]. The Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Budget Impact Analysis showed an advantage of the checklist (5.75% annual economic saving).

Conclusions: A dedicated checklist may lead to potential benefits in terms of quality of care pathway processes.