The Impact of an Increased Application of Critical Pathway for Gastrectomy on the Length of Stay and Cost

PURPOSE We developed a standardized critical pathway for gastric cancer surgery and then determined the increase of application, which resulted in an improvement in terms of measurable indices, such as hospital stay and cost. MATERIALS AND METHODS A critical pathway was revised and used widely from the 2nd quarter of 2009. We collected clinical data, such as length of stay and complication rate, as clinical indices of quality prospectively. The total cost paid at the patient's discharge, as well as the daily hospital income, were calculated and compared by each quarter from January 2008 to December 2009. RESULTS The application rate of critical pathway was 11.8% and 87.8% in 2008 and 2009, respectively. There were no perioperative deaths. There was no difference in the complication rates between 2008 and 2009 (P=0.45). However, the mean length of stay was significantly different between the 2 years (P<0.05). Although the total cost was not different, the daily hospital income was significantly higher in the latter year (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS An increase in the application of critical pathway for gastrectomy resulted in significant decreases in length of stay and increases in the daily hospital income without a compromise on the clinical indices.