Discussion and types of Clinical guidelines

Clinical guidelines Clinical guidelines are systematically developed statements or recommendations that serve as a guide for practitioners. Two types of clinical guidelines will be discussed throughout this text: consensus, or expert-developed guidelines, and evidence-based guidelines. Consensus guidelines, or expert-developed guidelines, are developed by an agreement of experts in the field. Evidence- based guidelines are those developed using published research findings. Guidelines are developed to assist in bridging practice and research and are developed by professional organizations, government agencies, institutions, or convened expert panels. Clinical guidelines provide clinicians with an algorithm for clinical management or decision making for specific diseases (e.g., breast cancer) or treatments (e.g., pain management). Not all clinical guidelines are well developed and, like research, must be assessed before implementation. Though they are systematically developed and make explicit recommendations for practice, clinical guidelines may be formatted differently. Guidelines for practice are becoming more important as third party and government payers are requiring practices to be based on evidence. Guidelines should present scope and purpose of the practice, detail who the development group included, demonstrate scientific rigor, be clear in its presentation, demonstrate clinical applicability, and demonstrate editorial independence (see Chapter 11).