AIM:To analyze the clinical data of patients with cataract in our hospital practicing clinical pathway and evaluate the value of clinical pathway.

METHODS:Two hundred eyes(200 eyes)of two hundred patients who suffered cataract from January 2012 to December 2012 were treated with ultrasound emulsification and intraocular lens planting by managing with clinical path. They are considered as clinical pathway group. The control group was another 200 patients(200 eyes)from December 2010 to December 2011 who suffered the same disease and treated with the same surgery not by managing with clinical path. The average length of stay, preoperative average length of stay, average cost of hospitalization(except the cost of IOL), drug cost, inspection fee, curative effect, degree of satisfaction of patients and medical staff, and readmission rate were analyzed.

RESULTS:In the clinical pathway group, the average length of stay was 6.01±0.13d, the preoperative average length of stay was 1.02±0.15d, the average cost of hospitalization was 4401.23± 129.07 Yuan, drug cost was 720.35±23.21 Yuan, inspection fee was 700.37±46.25 Yuan, and patient satisfaction was 96.4%. In the control group, the average length of stay was 10.21±0.05d, the preoperative average length of stay was 2.20±0.07d, average hospitalization cost was 4827.43±132.13 Yuan, drug cost was 1206.21±53.64 Yuan, inspection fee was 850.35±24.26 Yuan, and patient satisfaction was 93.1%. The difference between the two groups was significant(P<0.05). The cure rate was 97.2% in the clinical pathway group and 96.2% in the control group. The difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05). Satisfaction of the medical staff was 98.2% in the clinical pathway group and 96.4% in the control group, with no statistically significant difference(P>0.05). Clinical pathway group and control group had a readmission rate of 1% and 0.9%, with no statistically significant difference(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Implementation of clinical pathway on cataract patients will not reduce the quality of medical care. On the contrary, it will standardize the medical behavior, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce health care costs, and ease the tension in the doctor-patient relationship, and provide a theoretical basis for the realization of the medical system of prepaid.