GERIATRIC-PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION - IMPROVING OUTCOMES USING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY CLINICAL PATH MODEL

Clinical pathways define multidisciplinary staff members' responsibili ties, time lines. and patient outcomes. Although medical and surgical care set rings frequently use them to improve duality, clinical, and f iscal outcomes for specific patient populations, staff members of psyc hiatric care settings have been hesitant to use clinical pathways beca use psychiatry emphasizes patient individuality. The authors describe the development and implementation of a psychiatric clinical pathway f or geriatric patients with depression and identify common multidiscipl inary interventions and a pattern of outcomes over the course of treat ment for these patients. They also delineate quality and fiscal outcom es and future directions. Implementation of the pathway has been succe ssful, and the development and implementation processes have applicabi lity to other patient populations and care settings.