NEWS BRIEFS
NEWS BRIEFS
On-line database offers hundreds of guidelines
AHCPR site allows guideline comparisons
Physicians have easy access to hundreds of clinical practice guidelines with the debut of the National Guideline Clearinghouse on the World Wide Web.
New guidelines are coming on-line every week, and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in Rockville, MD, plans to make 3,500 guidelines available within the next four years. The site (http://www.guideline.gov) includes comparative charts showing who sponsored the guidelines, what type of evidence was used, and major areas of agreement and disagreement.
This information can be used as a starting point as medical groups seek to reduce variation among physicians, create disease management programs, and monitor outcomes and performance, says Yank D. Coble, MD, a Jacksonville, FL, endocrinologist who is a member of the board of trustees of the American Medical Association.
"This provides a unique way for us to very rapidly get guidelines and scientific information developed by credible organizations and feel confident we’re getting current information," he says.
Coble served on a panel that developed the clearinghouse. Both the AMA and the American Association of Health Plans worked on its development.
AHCPR stopped creating its own clinical practice guidelines in 1996, after a period of political turmoil for the agency that included opposition to one of the guidelines and threats from Congress to severely cut the agency’s budget. Meanwhile, guideline users were most interested in the scientific evidence analyzed by the agency, says Karen Migdail, spokeswoman for AHCPR.
AHCPR changed its focus and set up evidence-based centers around the country, which release reports on various medical conditions. The clearinghouse accepts guidelines from a wide range of organizations and requires them to be based on scientific evidence. ECRI, a health services research organization in Plymouth Meeting, PA, maintains the clearinghouse.
While the site is geared toward clinicians, patients may begin to use it to learn about their conditions. Coble says he will print out guidelines for patients who are interested in more extensive information. But Coble stresses that the material just sparks conversation — both among physicians and between physicians and patients.
"While it’s educational, we wouldn’t want to mislead a patient into thinking they should base their treatment on this," he says. "These are guidebooks, not cookbooks."
Child measurement initiative tests surveys
The Foundation for Accountability (FACCT) in Portland, OR, began testing new measures for child and adolescent health. Field trials in nine sites around the country will involve telephone and mail surveys in the areas of "Promoting Healthy Development," "Adolescent Risk Reduction," and "Living With Illness."
The survey includes six screening questions added to the pediatric version of the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans to identify children with chronic conditions.
Are you using evidence tools in clinical practice?
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in Rockville, MD, wants to know how research findings and evidenced-based tools can be used in clinical practice.
The agency is funding up to $2 million in grants for projects that show the impact of evidence-based tools on outcomes and cost and strategies to create behavior change in various health care settings.
The Request for Applications, "Translating Research into Practice," is available on AHCPR’s Web site (http://www.ahcpr.gov/funding/) or from Equals Three Communications, 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814-3015. Telephone: (301) 656-3100.
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