Guideline for [Clinical Guidelines Constitution/Amendment] in China.

ABSTRACT

QUALITY PROBLEM OR ISSUE Chinese medical institutions need clinical guidelines to improve healthcare quality. Unfamiliarity with clinical methodology and procedures leads to poor quality. INITIAL ASSESSMENT This study examined 327 clinical guidelines made in China during the period of 2006-10 and found these clinical guidelines have many problems in terms of guideline making procedures-compliant process, conflicts of interest disclosure. CHOICE OF SOLUTION Chinese Medical Association organized a working group in 2014 to make a national [Guideline for Clinical Guidelines Constitution/Amendment] and invited multidiscipline experts to prove its possibility. IMPLEMENTATION Experts investigated and reviewed numerous domestic and foreign published literature within the past 2 years, concluded that a clinical guideline should have following seven components I. Objective; II. General Principle; III. Procedure and Methodology; IV. Confirmation, Publication and Dissemination; V. Update and Amendment; VI. Implementation and Outcome Validation; VII. Reference. EVALUATION The [Guideline for Clinical Guidelines Constitution/Amendment] will improve the quality of Chinese clinical guidelines and regulate applications, as well as outcome evaluations of clinical guidelines in China. LESSONS LEARNED Standardized methodology and procedures are important for constituting high-quality clinical guidelines.