At Penn Medicine, we’re not just focused on treating illnesses — we’re committed to providing patients with the best care possible.
Our Clinical Pathways Program, part of the Center for Evidence-based Practice, helps ensure that each patient receives reliable, tailored care, backed by evidence and delivered by a dedicated team of experts.
Our goal? Ensuring every patient receives the best possible care wherever they are in Penn Medicine.
How the Clinical Pathways Program works
We’ve crafted a unique 10-step process to build care plans for every patient. Each plan is thoroughly researched, combining the best evidence and expert opinions. This means care is not only reliable but also tailored to meet each patient’s needs
Clinical pathways mean better care, consistent results
No one likes uncertainty in their care. That’s why our pathways aim to remove any unnecessary differences in treatment. This ensures everyone gets effective and efficient care, leading to better outcomes for all our patients.
Our pathways library
We’re proud of our extensive collection of pathways—nearly 400 and counting. These pathways cover various medical conditions and treatments, guaranteeing our teams have access to the best health care strategies available.
Review an example of our pathway for C. difficile below.
C. difficile pathway
Our C. difficile pathway helps guide testing decisions, part of our effort to limit unnecessary antibiotics. By reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance, we're making hospitals safer.
Integrating our evidence-based C. diff testing clinical pathway into clinical decision support in the electronic medical record significantly reduced C. difficile testing among hospitalized patients at Penn Medicine.
Ziegler MJ, Flores EJ, Epps M, Hopkins K, Glaser L, Mull NK, Pegues DA. Clostridioides difficile dynamic electronic order panel, an effective automated intervention to reduce inappropriate inpatient ordering. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. 2023 Mar 16:1-6.
Making pathways accessible in the electronic medical record
We’re innovating by integrating pathways into electronic medical records. This means care teams always have best practices at their fingertips, ensuring each patient’s treatment is more efficient and effective.
Pathways help us care for our caregivers
We know that healthy providers mean better care for our patients. By simplifying and streamlining care, we're taking the load off our providers so they can focus on what they do best—taking care of patients.