COVID-19 and clinical pathways management – A case study

Many studies have analyzed clinical pathways (CPs) from different perspectives, but to date, very limited research has investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their managerial and financial efficiency with respect to non-COVID-19 patients. In this respect, this study, focusing on a dataset including 749 patients from the data warehouse of the “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Research Hospital” (Italy) from January 2018 to December 2021, has examined more particularly the CPs, as concerns hospitalization and subsequent organization, for non-COVID-19 patients with respiratory insufficiency in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with the aim of highlighting potential changes in the organizational, operational, and financial dynamics. The research has evaluated the length of the hospitalization by comparing the years in the absence (2018-2019) and the presence (2020-2021) of the COVID-19 emergency; secondarily, further analyses concerning the radiological exams (with financial interest) and the healthcare workers (with managerial interest) have been carried out. The main results have indicated an increase of the average length of the hospitalization in the pandemic years (with major influence of 2020, while the average length of the hospitalization in 2021 is minor than 2019), a decrease of the number of radiological exams during the pandemic years, and an increase for the care-staff during the pandemic years. Subsequent implications in terms of organizational change have been discussed.