Integrated care pathway for the personalized care programme for patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong

We developed an integrated care pathway for the personalized care programme, a community mental health service using a multidisciplinary case management approach for patients with severe mental illness in Hong Kong, China. The pathway started from the point of referral to exit of service and covered acknowledgement of referral, triage and contact, and formulation, endorsement and review of individual service plan (ISP). The first audit showed a high compliance rate except endorsement of ISP. The improvement initiative was successful in raising the compliance rate. The integrated care pathway proved to be a useful tool in driving service development and continuous quality improvement.