Archived 14 June 2006 - some links may not work

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Emergency Department Critical Pathways Project

The Emergency Department Critical Pathways Project is an initiative coordinated by the Hospital Demand Management Group , which facilitated the development of critical pathways across seventeen Emergency Departments in Victoria.

Each site chose a condition to develop a critical pathway for, based on the following criteria:

  • Presentations that do not require inpatient admission (for example, DVT or cellulitis directly admitted into Hospital In The Home, patients transferred to short stay units, asthmatics who are managed and discharged home), and
  • Presentations where a pathway may facilitate improvement in streamlining management or processes (for example, initiation of first nebuliser or times to first nebuliser, increasing appropriate referrals into Hospital in the Home, investigations performed).

The Emergency Department Critical Pathways Project Final Report (see right) outlines the scope of the project and outcomes to date. The report also outlines the critical pathways developed at each site, the aims of each of the pathways and the potential benefits to be achieved through implementation of the critical pathways.

The Centre for Clinical Effectiveness at Southern Health undertook literature reviews on two common conditions. These were deep vein thrombosis and renal colic. Clinical Epidemiology & Health Service Evaluation Unit at Melbourne Health undertook literature reviews on asthma and chest pain. The literature reviews are available here to assist other emergency departments when developing critical pathways for these conditions - see right.

The use of critical pathways in emergency departments has not been widely adopted previously within Victoria. Utilisation of critical pathways require ongoing education and understanding by all ED staff. An educational presentation (right) is available to assist with education inservices on critical pathways to Emergency Department staff.

Evaluation of the critical pathways and variance analysis will be ongoing, with plans for quarterly forums for each site to present data and continue networking. The Critical Pathway Quality Evaluation Framework (right) assists with the assessment of the quality of the critical pathways developed.

The variety of targeted conditions and pathways developed out of this initiative can be viewed in the following examples the right.

Emergency Department Critical Pathways Project Final Report- October 2001 (PDF icon pdf 87 kb)

Educational presentation - 2001
(PDF iconpdf file 166 kb)

literature reviews:
Asthma - April 2002
(PDF iconpdf 352kb)
Chest Pain - 2002
(PDF iconpdf 434kb)
Deep Vein Thrombosis - July 2001
(PDF iconpdf 165 kb)
Renal Colic - July 2001
(PDF iconpdf 105 kb)

Clinical Pathway Evaluation Framework - Sep 2001
(PDF iconpdf 43 kb)

Clinical Pathways Examples:

The Alfred - Adult Asthma Clinical Pathway - 2001
(PDF iconpdf 34 kb)

A&RMC - Deep Vein Thrombosis Clinical Pathway - 2001
(PDF iconpdf 32 kb)

Barwon Health - Cellulitis Clinical Pathway - 2001
(PDF iconpdf 219 kb)

The Northern Hospital - Paediatric Asthma Clinical Pathway - 2001
(PDF iconpdf 105 kb)


Last updated: 14 June, 2006
Contact: This web site is managed and authorised by the Statewide Elective Surgery Program Unit of the Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services Division of the Victorian State Government, Department of Human Services, Australia

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