The European Quality of Care Pathway (EQCP) Study: history, project management and approach

Abstract

The European Quality of Care Pathway (EQCP) study is the first, international, cluster randomized controlled trial launched to study the effect of the implementation of care pathways and to study why and under what circumstances pathways work. The study will be performed in Belgium, Italy, Ireland and Portugal and will include individual studies: a trial including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, a trial including proximal femur fracture patients and a trial focusing on multidisciplinary teamwork within both populations. The study is managed by the European Pathway Association in close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team

Better Interprofessional Teamwork, Higher Level of Organized Care, and Lower Risk of Burnout in Acute Health Care Teams Using Care Pathways

“…27 The setting we are focusing on is the sample of the participating Belgian teams. Hospitals enrolled in the Belgian Dutch Clinical Pathway Network (http:// www.nkp.be) were asked to participate.…”

The impact of care pathways for patients with proximal femur fracture: rationale and design of a cluster-randomized controlled trial

“…In each participating hospital, a study coordinator will be appointed to facilitate implementation of the care pathway. The study coordinator will be trained by the E-P-A team on how to develop and implement care pathways [12,29]. …”

“…To gain insight into the active components of complex care pathways, one needs to evaluate the context of the interventions and the mechanisms involved [14,20,21,26,27]. Multicenter trials that include these evaluations are critical to fully understand how and when care pathways are effective [12,28,29]. …”

“…Earlier, E-P-A launched a similar study on exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [12,29]. …”

“…A secondary goal is to understand how and under what circumstances the implementation of a pathway for PFF is successful [29]. …”