Background: The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma is rapidly increasing and requires process-optimized treatment dependent on the course of the patient's individual disease. Patient-based data on squamous cell carcinoma were used to analyze the treatment modalities before DRGs were introduced, after their introduction and after discussion about process-optimization in context of clinical pathways.
Patients and methods: From the recorded data in the department of dermatology, all squamous cell carcinoma cases were identified and evaluated. In addition to patient characteristics, parameters describing the process, for example, length of stay in hospital, pre- and post-interventional days, were collected.
Results: Between 1998-2002, 2004-2006 and January to June 2007, 658 patients were treated for squamous cell carcinoma. In contrast to the times before DRGs, the treatment process has been significantly optimized, reducing the pre- and post-operative days and thus the duration of stay. Analysis of clinical pathways as part of the continuous improvement process was hardly able to detect further improvement. However, the weekly distribution of the admitted patients has been improved.
Conclusions: Patients with squamous cell carcinoma requiring surgical excision benefit from an optimized process, just as do impatient facilities. However, optimized treatment modalities carry hardly any potential of improvement by the invention of clinical pathways.