Determining the effectiveness of critical pathways for coronary artery bypass graft patients: retrospective comparison of readmission rates.

The article describes a study performed to determine whether the use of the critical path tool made a difference in the readmission rates of patients after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery compared with CABG patients cared for without the critical path tool. The sample for this retrospective study consisted of 780 specific patient medical records from the medical record department. Examination of the data revealed no statistically significant difference in readmission for CABG patients cared for with critical paths and those cared for without critical paths. A comparison of hospital length of stay and surgical length of stay between the two groups however, revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups. The critical path group had a significant decrease in hospital and surgical length of stay.