ABSTRACT
Critical pathways help institutions in efficient and appropriate resource use to increase the quality of health care and minimize health care costs. However, many opportunities for pathway development and implementation are unexplored. This article delineates the development process for critical pathways and discusses the outcomes realized from use of the total joint pathway at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA.
Subject(s)
Critical Pathways/organization & administration , Operating Rooms/organization & administration , Patient Care Team/organization & administration , Humans , Program Development , Program Evaluation , Retrospective StudiesSubject(s)
Denture Identification Marking/methods , Acrylic Resins , Alloys , Denture, Complete , HumansABSTRACT
The impact of endometriosis on the general population has been well documented, and the prevalence rate is quoted as 10%. The records of 6,456 women in the United States Army were reviewed with respect to age, race and active duty status. The active duty records were further evaluated for total sick days from endometriosis-related problems. This evaluation revealed a mean sick time of 15 days per admission per active-duty patient regardless of age or race. The estimate of lost duty time was 21,746 days, considering all active-duty patients in the study (five years of records). The prevalence of endometriosis in the female U.S. Army population was 6.2%. Diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis should be aggressively pursued whenever the disease is suspected.
