The purpose of this project was to estimate the effectiveness of a clinical pathway for laparoscopic oophorectomy. To develop a clinical pathway medical record data were collected from 121 laparoscopic oophorectomy patients from September to December of 1997 at a northern medical center in Taiwan. The clinical pathway included eight categories including consultation; physical examination/laboratory tests; treatments; medications; activity; diet; nursing instructions; and general health care. Information regarding clinical pathway, training education, and protocols were obtained before implementing the clinical pathway. The effectiveness of the pathway was measured by patient satisfaction, readmission within 2 weeks, length of hospital stay, and medical costs. A total of 795 samples were assigned to the clinical pathway from January 1 to December 31, 1999. The results of this study showed that for those women in the clinical pathway group: (1) the average length of hospitalization stay was 3.3 - 2.24 days less than those women not in the clinical pathway; (2) the average medical cost was 46,945 NT dollars per patient which saved 3,278 NT dollars, (3) the average score for patient satisfaction was 4.38 (Range: 1-5). No readmission occurred for women in either group. This study implies that using a clinical pathway improves effective care by reducing length of stay and medical costs and increasing patient satisfaction.