New Study Examines Clinical Pathways: An Overview of Current Practices and Potential Implications for Patients, Payers, and Providers

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As health care payers seek to transition to new, value-based payment models, clinical pathways are one strategy payers and providers are using in their efforts to contain costs and promote evidence-based care. New research released this week by Avalere Health examines current practices related to these programs and stakeholder reactions to their growing use.

Clinical pathways are multi-pronged care plans that prescribe specific guidance on the sequencing of care steps.  They can encompass a wide range of activities – from care protocols that help reduce infection or prevent unnecessary visits to the emergency department, to those that seek to promote more efficient treatment decision-making. Much of the recent focus in oncology has been on use of tools that narrow options based on decisions about treatment efficacy, side-effects and cost.  In other words, pathways can take a range of treatment options and narrow a physician's options to a select few. It's like taking an eight lane highway and narrowing it to two. Recently, some payers are even linking use of their preferred clinical pathways to financial incentives. 

These trends raise a number of questions:  who decides which treatments will be "on-pathway," what criteria do they consider and what does the process mean for patients – particularly patients whose needs differ from the average?

View our new infographic on what clinical pathways mean for treatment options here: http://phrma.org/graphic/what-do-clinical-pathways-mean-for-treatment-options

Learn more about PhRMA's commitment to new models that reflect the needs and preferences of individual patients, medical advances and increasing personalization in medicine here:  http://www.phrma.org/phrma-principles-for-payment-and-delivery-system-reforms

This post originally appeared here: http://catalyst.phrma.org/new-study-examines-clinical-pathways-an-overview-of-current-practices-and-potential-implications-for-patients-payers-and-providers

Contact: Holly Campbell; 202-835-3460; [email protected]

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SOURCE Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America