Introducing HealthPathways Community

Introducing HealthPathways Community
Info Graphic 1
Info Graphic 2
Info Graphic 3

The HealthPathways Community is an international collective of health and social care organisations that collaborate to deliver locally relevant pathways to clinicians. Community members use the HealthPathways platform which includes starter pathways, pathway development tools, and websites for front line clinicians to refer to at the point of care. This collaboration delivers better patient outcomes by reducing variation in pathways and clinical practice and enabling new clinical evidence and health policy to flow swiftly into practice.

The HealthPathways development and review process asks questions that help reveal unconscious bias and assumptions about patient behaviour and service availability that the pathways can then address. HealthPathways accommodates necessary variation in care processes due to important local differences, while also helping to reveal unnecessary variation in care, which contributes to equity of outcomes.

HealthPathways offers clinicians locally-agreed information to make the right decisions, together with patients, at the point of care, so you can:
HPC Icon 1

IMPROVE TRUST AND RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS  THE CARE CONTINUUM

HPC Icon 2

USE CAPACITY
MORE EFFICIENTLY

HPC Icon 3

REDUCE VARIATION
IN CARE

HPC Icon 4

SAVE TIME
FOR PATIENTS AND
CLINICIANS

HealthPathways enables collaboration and standardising "the way we do things" across and within both primary and secondary care settings in your health system. Select your area of interest below to find out more.

Case Studies

As an important component in health and social care systems, HealthPathways has been the subject of a number of case studies and research papers, and many more include reference to HealthPathways.

Below is a selection of these case studies and research papers, they have been grouped by the impact HealthPathways has had on the health systems involved. For a full list of the research studies please review our Publication Database, or contact us to discuss how HealthPathways could benefit your health system.

Enhancement of community care

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

Evidence into Practice

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

System Improvement

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

Reductions in variation of care

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

Evaluations of HealthPathways

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.

Referral Improvements

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.

Economic benefit of HealthPathways

HealthPathways Economic analysis of specialist referral patterns in Mackey, 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.

Enquires

If you are conducting research that involves HealthPathways or would like to learn more about research involving HealthPathways please contact:

Research and Evaluation Manager
+64 3 595 1318
researchhub@healthpathwayscommunity.org

Introducing Community HealthPathways

Introducing Community HealthPathways
Community HealthPathways (CHP) provides primary care clinicians with access to a suite of locally-agreed pathways covering assessment, management, and referral to community and hospital care services.

CHP pathways are agreed between primary and secondary care clinicians, based on evidence-based guidance, and reflect "how we do things around here." It facilitates informed decisions at the point of care, promotes standardised ways of working, and supports effective referrals to community and hospital care services.

It helps to:

  • Reduce unwanted variations in patient experience and outcomes
  • Optimise specialist and secondary care referrals
  • Improve use of local resources within the community
  • Translate evidence-based, best practice guidance into local practice
CHP Intro

Key Features

Pathways support clinicians to assess and manage patients’ needs, request support from local specialist services, access relevant information, remain up-to-date with local changes, and identify opportunities for service improvement. You receive immediate access to over 1,000 community pathways that have been developed by members of the CHP community.
  • Available online 24/7
  • Desktop, mobile, and tablet-friendly
  • Can be integrated with third-party toolsets
  • Access to base pathways for clinical conditions, which can be adapted for your local health system
  • Adaptive process that ensures information remains current and reflects changes to local service

ACCESS

TO OVER

1,000

PATHWAYS

CHP Icon 2

ACCESS
TO BASE
Templates

CHP Icon 3

DESKTOP,
MOBILE & TABLET
Device Friendly

CHP Icon 4

THIRD-PARTY
TOOLSET
Intergration

CHP Icon 5

24/7 ACCESS TO
Up to date
Information

CHP Icon 6

SUPPORT FROM
LOCAL
Specialists

Testimonials

"HealthPathways is a web-based resource that truly supports clinical decision-making by ensuring that pathways of care are based on up-to-date national guidelines, tailored to local opinion and resources. The relationship-building and understanding that develops between experienced GP clinical editors and their specialist service colleagues while writing pathways ensures mutual agreement on the best care for patients in North Cumbria."  
DR JULIET RHODES GP, North Cumbria

"HealthPathways is helping us to get a range of statewide policy into practice quickly and effectively."
MS JODY PAXTON Director, Healthcare Improvement Unit, Clinical Excellence Queensland, Queensland Health

Download the Community HealthPathways information pack

Introducing Hospital HealthPathways

Introducing Hospital HealthPathways
Hospital HealthPathways (HHP) provides secondary care clinicians with access to a suite of locally-agreed pathways of care within a hospital environment.

HHP is written primarily for junior doctors, senior doctors working outside their specialty, and doctors working in non-specialty areas, such as emergency or general medicine.

It facilitates informed decisions at the point of care, promotes standardised ways of working, and supports patient flow, including early discharge to the community.

HHP Intro

 

Key Features

Hospital HealthPathways helps to:

  • Reduce unwanted variations in patient experience and outcomes
  • Junior doctors, non-specialists and locums access local expertise and protocols to support decision making.
  • Improve patient flow by improving consistency in practice within and between departments and different hospitals.
  • Translate evidence-based, best practice guidance into local practice

ACCESS

TO OVER

300

PATHWAYS

HHP tile 2

ACCESS
TO BASE
Templates

HHP tile 3

DESKTOP,
MOBILE & TABLET
Device Friendly

HHP tile 4

SUPPORT FROM
LOCAL
Specialists

HHP tile 5

24/7 ACCESS TO
Up to date
Information

HHP tile 6

THIRD-PARTY
TOOLSET
Intergration

Testimonials

"It is a concise and relevant source of information about patient assessment. Gives good summaries about conditions and up-to date pathways for patient management. Highly recommend as a learning resource and for clinical guidance."

"It’s an incredibly useful resource that’s been invaluable in day-to-day practice, especially as a junior doctor, and especially out of regular working hours when seeking the advice of senior colleagues is potentially less easily accessible."

"Having worked in other hospitals, it is by far the best hospital guideline system I have used."

Download the Hospital HealthPathways information pack