Clinical Pathways

Steven Peskin, MD, MBA, FACP: We have not embraced clinical pathways in the way that we’re saying that we’re working with a particular third-party clinical pathway company.

What we are doing is working around episode-of-care type of contracts. Within those clinical organizations, they are, in turn, setting certain standards and looking at certain pathways. They’re looking at their clinicians in their organizations [to see] if they’re following certain protocols—[for example, regarding] the judicious or injudicious use of PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography) scans, and which therapies are being used in what situations.

So we have not, as an organization, embraced a particular clinical pathway construct. Though we certainly see the great value in evidence-based care (evidence-based medicine), we’re not specifically focused on a particular clinical pathway, [having a] third party work with us, or [establishing] our own approach to designated clinical pathways.