EHR Integration of Clinical Pathways: A Dual-Hospital Perspective
Clinical pathways are evidence-based, structured care plans used to enhance the quality of care and improve patient outcomes in individuals presenting with a specific clinical problem. While clinical pathways have the potential to be valuable, their use (adoption) by healthcare providers has historically faced barriers due to a lack of integration into clinician workflows. To combat this barrier, two pediatric hospitals integrated clinical pathways into the electronic health records (EHRs) of their health systems, utilizing a third-party vendor. Children’s Nebraska implemented this program in June of 2023 and has demonstrated sustained improvement. Arkansas Children’s implemented in June of 2025 and has shown improvement. This presentation will describe the implementation, adoption, and impact of clinical pathways using EHR integration at each institution.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how structured change management strategies, including the ADKAR model, can be applied to support clinical teams in adopting workflow changes.
- Explain the role of leadership collaboration, super-user recruitment, and communication planning in preparing frontline staff for successful implementation.
- Evaluate early adoption outcomes by interpreting user engagement data following pathway implementation.
Sophia Blythe, MHA
Senior Project Coordinator for Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s Clinical Effectiveness and Outcomes Department
Pathways4Kids Treasurer, Board of Directors
Sophia Blythe serves as the Senior Project Coordinator for Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s Clinical Effectiveness and Outcomes department, where she leads the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based clinical pathways across the organization. She is particularly passionate about healthcare informatics and clinical usability, with a focus on integrating pathways into the EHR in ways that align with real-world workflows and support decision-making at the point of care. Her work emphasizes scalable, sustainable pathway strategies, cross-institutional learning, and the use of data to help frontline practitioners deliver safer, more standardized, and high-value pediatric care.
Kelsey Zindel, DNP, APRN-NP, CPNP-AC/PC
Manager of Clinical Effectiveness, Children’s Nebraska
Pathways4Kids Steering Committee
Kelsey Zindel is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and dual-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner serving as the Manager of Clinical Effectiveness at Children’s Nebraska. She leads quality improvement, clinical pathway development, and data-driven initiatives, transforming complex data into clear, actionable insights. Her work advances EHR-integrated pathways that enhance care consistency and outcomes.
Recording and Slide Downloads
Slides
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