Effects of clinical pathway implementation on medical quality and patient satisfaction

In Taiwan, many hospitals have actively introduced and integrated the clinical pathway management method to lower their medical expenses. However, the way in which a clinical pathway influences patient satisfaction and medical quality is an issue worth serious discussion. This research employs fuzzy linguistic scale questionnaires to survey medical personnel on their evaluations of the effectiveness of clinic pathway implementation, before and after the implementation of a clinical pathway. We investigate the relationships between the implementation of a clinic pathway and patient satisfaction. More specifically, we employ a canonical correlation analysis to find the correlations between clinical pathway implementation and medical quality as well as the correlation between clinical pathway implementation and patient satisfaction. The results show that medical personnel generally respond positively towards the implementation of a clinical pathway. Additionally, for the correlation between a clinical pathway and patient satisfaction, the results show a positive correlation between medical quality and medical consumer response. Thus, canonical correlation analysis proves that integrating clinical pathways into hospitals can in fact improve medical quality and patient satisfaction.