There is so much debate about clinical pathways. Some propose that they are an excellent way to reduce variability in clinical care and reduce cost, but others contend that they take away from the clinical judgment and bind physicians into algorithms that do not represent all the patients they care for.
To discuss the pros and cons of clinical pathways, I interviewed Bobby Daly, MD, MBA from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Bobby breaks down prevalent touch points in oncology clinical pathways, including conflicts of interest on pathway development panels, potential for cost variation due to site of care, and interoperability challenges between vendor pathways and individual EMRs.