Medical guideline

[4] Modern clinical guidelines identify, summarize and evaluate the highest quality evidence and most current data about prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy including dosage of medications, risk/benefit and cost-effectiveness.

Thus, they integrate the identified decision points and respective courses of action with the clinical judgement and experience of practitioners.

Guidelines are usually produced at national or international levels by medical associations or governmental bodies, such as the United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

In the United Kingdom, clinical practice guidelines are published primarily by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

In The Netherlands, two bodies—the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (CBO) and College of General Practitioners (NHG)—have published specialist and primary care guidelines, respectively.

In Germany, the German Agency for Quality in Medicine (ÄZQ) coordinates a national program for disease management guidelines.

[14] Patients and caregivers are frequently excluded from clinical guidelines development, in part because there is a lack of guidance for how to include them in the process.