Medicine subject guide - Links
Clinical practice guidelines
Government sites | Organisations | University sites | E-texts
Government sites
HSTAT (Health Services/Technology Assessment Text)
This free web-based resource provides access to full-text documents useful for providing health information and for health care decision making. HSTAT's audience includes health care providers, health service researchers, and policy makers. A variety of publications, including clinical practice guidelines, quick-reference guides for clinicians, consumer health brochures, evidence reports and technology
assessments are available from contributers such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Institutes of Health. For more information see the HSTAT Factsheet.
U.S. National Guideline Clearinghouse
U.S. National Institutes of Health
NHLBI National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute High Blood Pressure Guidelines.
Organisations
AGREE
An international collaboration of researchers and policy makers who seek to improve the quality and effectiveness of clinical practice guidelines by establishing a shared framework for their development, reporting and assessment. In the collaboration are European countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) as well as Canada, New Zealand and the USA.
Clinical Practice Guidelines of New Zealand
The New Zealand Guidelines Group was established by the National Health Committee (NHC) in 1996 as an informal network of expertise and information on guideline development and implementation.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
NICE is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance(UK)on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health.
Medical Journal of Australia
Clinical guidelines published by the MJA represent the consensus opinion of experts based on systematic review of the scientific literature.
Canadian Guideline Advisory committee
Guideline Advisory Committee is a joint body of the Ontario Medical Association and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
University sites
University of California, San Francisco. School of Medicine
Provides links to many sites in the web. These can be accessed either by organisation or subject.
E-texts
NHMRC Guidelines for the development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines (1999)
The guidelines methodology was developed specifically for the Australian setting which can be applied to a variety of health care procedures and interventions, and is aimed at improving health outcomes.
NHMRC handbook series on preparing clinical practice guidelines
How to review the evidence: systematic identification and review of the scientific literature(585kb)
This handbook describes how to systematically identify scientific literature relevant to a particular question, select and review the most important (highest quality) studies and summarise and present the results for further consideration by the committee that will develop the clinical practice guidelines.
How to use the evidence: assessment and application of scientific evidence (524kb)
This handbook focuses on how to evaluate and use the evidence gathered from a systematic literature review to inform the development of evidence-based clinical guidelines.
How to put the evidence into practice: implementation and dissemination strategies (386kb)
This handbook focuses on the issue of how to change clinical practice through dissemination and implementation of clinical guidelines or other evidence-based information.
How to present the evidence for consumers: preparation of consumer publications (322kb)
This handbook focuses on how to prepare guideline information in a way that consumers can readily access and understand. It has been based on a review of the relevant scientific literature about how to prepare and present evidence-based information for consumers of health services.