OBJECTIVES: mental disorders are a significant problem of public health, especially for disability they generate during adulthood. They strongly influence quality of life for patients as well as having important impacts on society and mental health services, creating a significant economic problem for the health system and for patient. METHODS: an integrated clinical pathway (PDTA) for patient with schizophrenia has been validated by a group of Italian medical experts. This clinical governance tool, enables to organize and integrate activities and interventions in a context where, several specialties, professions and areas of action (hospital and territorial care) are involved. RESULTS: drug acquisition costs are not the highest costs in the schizophrenia management. The highest costs are related to: frequent hospitalization, residential care costs, loss of individuals productivity, high costs for caregiver. The aim of our work is to offer, to the different actors involved in the schizophrenia treatment management, a governance tool (PDTA) that allow: to manage the treatment variability, to monitor the resource utilization, to monitor the adherence and to improve the quality of processes and outcomes. Also the schizophrenia PDTA, promoting the early use of antipsychotics LAI, answer to the main unmet needs in the pathology management: the frequent relapses, the functional status preservation and the maintenance of good quality of life. An indicators set was validated to monitor the correct adoption of PDTA in order to generate savings and better manage the cost of disease. CONCLUSIONS: thanks to integrated clinical pathway all the actors involved in treating mental disorders are able to outline, the best clinical pathway practicable, compared to schizophrenia, in order to optimize resources and costs. A desirable perspective is the adoption of the clinical pathway at the regional level and in the future also at the national level.