HealthPathways implementation on type 2 diabetes: A programmatic evaluation (HIT2evaluation), 2019

• 87% of the GPs that responded to the effectiveness of HP in caring for patients with diabetes question agreed that HP has assisted in the provision of more healthcare in the community.

Management of postmenopausal bleeding by general practitioners in a community setting: an observational study, 2016

• Service redesign, using HP, to move more care into the community in a safe and effective manner

A regional programme to improve skin cancer management, 2016

• Service redesign, including HP, reduced waiting time, treated more people and managed more in community

The development of a community-based spirometry service in the Canterbury region of New Zealand: observations on new service delivery, 2015

• Service redesign, using HP, with successful use of spirometry in the community

Implementing HealthPathways across QLD, 2019

• Statewide minimum referral criteria developed and rolled out through HealthPathways
• “HealthPathways appears to have served a key role both in implementing CPC in an effective manner, and in taking CPC to GPs who might in other circumstances have rejected prioritisation criteria as a narrow demand management exercise” page 11

Implementing HealthPathways across Queensland, 2019

• Statewide minimum referral criteria developed and rolled out through HealthPathways
• “HealthPathways appears to have served a key role both in implementing CPC in an effective manner, and in taking CPC to GPs who might in other circumstances have rejected prioritisation criteria as a narrow demand management exercise” page 11

Addition of explicit guidance to acute pancreatitis guidelines increases compliance with amylase measurement recommendations, 2019

• Addition of explicit advice (practice point) on pancreatitis pw improved compliance by 13% (65 % to 78%) – resulting in 54 fewer amylase blood tests over a 6-month period.

Development and outcomes of a primary care-based sleep assessment service in Canterbury, New Zealand, 2017

• Redesigned sleep assessment services, using CHP as a vehicle, improved access and reduced waiting times.

A regional programme to improve skin cancer management, 2015

• “Work groups of GPs and plastic surgeons were formed to identify barriers to increased skin cancer management and to develop pragmatic solutions. This included formulation of a clinical pathway for inclusion on a locally developed website called HealthPathways.” page 2
• HealthPathways, by acting as a change management tool, was another major driver for development of the programme.” page 6

Investigation of the impact of HealthPathways in reducing variations in care in general practice: Final evaluation report, 2019

• “HealthPathways has the potential to be used as a key tool in assisting general practitioners (GPs) to adopt best practice and evidence-based clinical guidelines and reduce unwarranted variations in care.” page 6
• “The results of this study showed that participants who used HealthPathways to assist them with assessing patient scenarios scored slightly higher than participants who did not, across all five conditions.” page 33

Addition of explicit guidance to acute pancreatitis guidelines increases compliance with amylase measurement recommendations, 2019

• Addition of explicit advice (practice point) on pancreatitis pathway improved compliance by 13% (65 % to 78%) – resulting in 54 fewer amylase blood tests over a 6-month period

Evaluation of HealthPathways: an appraisal of usage, experiences and opinions of healthcare professionals in Australia and New Zealand, 2020

• This study found that health professionals in NZ and Australia perceive HealthPathways to be useful, especially for improving primary care management and the quality of prereferral treatment of patients and referrals for secondary care.

HealthPathways improving access to care, 2019

• “HealthPathways (HPW) has the potential to improve patient management and health outcomes, and use of HPW is increasing over time.”

Is HealthPathways effective? An online Survey of hospital clinicians, general practitioners and practice nurses, 2015

• 90 to 95% of GP teams thought HP was easy to use and improved patient care. 60% of hospital clinicians considered it had improved referral quality and relationships with GPs.

Reducing hospital admissions for COPD: perspectives following the Christchurch Earthquake, 2018

• A significant reduction in COPD admissions and day stay was able to be achieved by changing systems’ responses to COPD exacerbations, which included changes to relevant health pathways.

Impact of integrated health system changes, accelerated due to an earthquake, on emergency department attendances and acute admissions: a Bayesian change-point analysis, 2016

• “For example, among those aged 75+ years, the Community Falls Prevention programme has been attributed with 1076 fewer ED attendances due to falls, 386 fewer femoral neck fracture operations, 86 fewer deaths 180 days post-discharge, and 25 fewer people in hospital each day as a result of a fracture since February 2012.” page 7

Case Study – Improving Patient Flow from Gynaecology Services to Whole-of-System, 2016

• “General practitioners quickly responded to the improved information and rigor of the triage process, and referrals dropped to under 100 per week and acceptance rates went from below 50% to over 90%.” page 6
• “It has become the “primary source of the truth” for many primary and secondary care clinicians on most matters associated with common condition management and referral in the local Canterbury health system context.” page 9
• “In 2011 the Christchurch Hospital Gynaecology Department reports greatly improved referrals (appropriateness and completeness), in line with the guidance in HealthPathways.” page 10

Is HealthPathways effective? An online Survey of hospital clinicians, general practitioners and practice nurses, 2015

• 90 to 95% of GP teams thought HP was easy to use and improved patient care. 60% of hospital clinicians considered it had improved referral quality and relationships with GPs.

HealthPathways Economic analysis of specialist referral patterns in Mackay, Queensland following HealthPathways Implementation, 2021

• HealthPathways implementation was associated with a savings of $110,181 over 3 sets of clinical pathways for a 3 month period.
• Annualised savings from the 3 analysed pathway sets more than offset the cost of the entire implementation of HealthPathways for the year.