Mayo Clinic Care Network reduces hospital stays with ERPs

Editor's Note

An Enhanced Recovery Pathway (ERP) created by the Mayo Clinic’s colorectal surgery service a decade ago has now been adopted by other surgical services in seven medical centers that are members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, the October 15 Harvard Business Review reports.

The ability of each institution in the Network to implement ERPs exactly as it was designed varied, and there were no requirements that they do so

The ERP, which involves improved pain management, limitations on catheter use, early mobilization, and patient education, has reduced length of stay by 33.9% across all Network sites and by 48.7% at one site. That one site also had the lowest surgical readmission rate in its home state after implementation.

By the end of the ERP implementation process, it was clear that learning was multidirectional and that the teams at the Network sites learned from the Mayo Clinic but gained important insights from each other as well, the author says.