Work

Clinical pathways discovery for long-term and chronic patients: A process mining approach

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The increasing burden of chronic respiratory diseases is placing substantial pressure on healthcare systems around the world. Lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, lung cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis, rank among the most prevalent and deadly conditions globally. Given the complexity of managing these chronic conditions, there is an urgent need to optimize care processes to meet the growing service demands efficiently and effectively, especially in public healthcare systems where there is a prevalence of elderly patients. This study aims to understand and improve the quality and performance of treatments provided to patients using a process mining approach. By analyzing clinical data collected from 2018 to 2022, the study identifies critical points in the care pathways where improvements can be made. This approach enables the optimization of resource deployment and service configuration to better meet patient needs. As a case study, this method was applied to a specialized hospital facility dedicated to cardiac and respiratory diseases, where actionable insights were uncovered for enhancing clinical pathways. This study allows us to analyze clinical pathways and detect critical points, providing insights to healthcare managers and decision makers. In addition, it highlights the importance of adequate data collection and suggests that future research efforts should prioritize the acquisition of larger and more diverse data sets to enhance the reliability and validity of activity and episodes analyses.

Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine

DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2026.111539

Authors: Luca Murazzano, Paolo Landa, Jean–Baptiste Gartner, Mohamed Hakim Raki, André Côté

Institutions: Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, Université Laval, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les réseaux d'entreprise, la logistique et le transport, Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de Chaudière-Appalaches

Language: English

Topic: Business Process Modeling and Analysis

Subfield: Management Information Systems

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,080