The document discusses clinical pathways and their relationship to diagnosis related groups (DRGs) and casemix in determining the cost of treatment. It proposes developing clinical pathways based on the existing ICD classification system and major diagnostic categories (MDCs) to standardize quality of care and establish a basis for planning costs and reimbursement rates. Tables are provided as examples to illustrate how clinical pathways could be used to track resource utilization and estimate costs for different activities in the treatment process.