Clinical Practice Guidelines

What are clinical practice guidelines?

"The IOM (2011) defined clinical practice guidelines as "statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care that are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options." Trustworthy guidelines should be based on a systematic evidence review, developed by panel of multidisciplinary experts, provide a clear explanation of the logical relationships between alternative care options and health outcomes, and provide ratings of both the quality of evidence and the strength of the recommendations."

- NIH, About Systematic Evidence Reviews and Clinical Practice Guidelines, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/healthpro/guidelines/about

DynaMed
Search for and select topic, then choose "Guidelines and Resources" in left sidebar. Topics in DynaMed contain United States guidelines and international guidelines when available.
ClinicalKey
Choose "Guidelines" in the drop down menu next to the search bar.
Essential Evidence Plus
Click on the "Guidelines" tab when viewing a topic summary.
BMJ Best Practice
When viewing a topic summary, Guidelines are under the "Resources" heading.
PubMed
After entering in a search, limit your results by "Guideline" or "Practice Guideline". Select Additional Filters to add these to the interface.

For more information on where to find guidelines, see our guide on Clinical Practice Guidelines.

PBL Research Guide

Clinical Practice Guidelines

What are clinical practice guidelines?