Bayesian Belief Network Model of the Radical Prostatectomy Pathway

A clinical pathway represents sequencing and timing of interventions by clinicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals for a particular clinical presentation. It is designed to minimize delays and resource utilizations and to maximize the quality of tertiary care. A pathway is used to monitor and control patient’s progress that is measured according to standard process and clinical outcomes. We conducted a retrospective chart study and used the Bayesian belief network (BBN) to model a pathway for radical prostatectomy that was developed at The Ottawa Hospital — Civic Campus, and to predict the patient’s length of stay (LOS) given the deviations from pre-determined course of action.