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Finding Practice Guidelines: Home

Practice guidelines provide recommendations on the appropriate treatment and care of people with specific diseases and conditions.

What are practice guidelines?

Also known as clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), practice guidelines are produced by different health-care organizations and professional bodies at the local, regional or national level. These guidelines address a variety of medical issues and conditions. Although practice guidelines provide practice recommendations based on a systematic review of the research, guidelines produced by different organizations may make different recommendations or they may not be valid.

ECRI Guidelines Trust

ECRI Guidelines Trust allows users search widely for practice and clinical guidelines. You can create an account, search for guidelines, and see original documentation at this source. Additionally, ECRI outlines inclusion criteria that is required for a guideline to be included in the ECRI Guidelines Trust. 

Finding Guidelines in Databases

Organizations that Produce Guidelines

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The NIH is composed of 27 Institutes and Centers and is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.

Steps to search for practice guidelines within NIH's Institutes:

  1. Select the Institute that pertains to your topic, e.g. the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
  2. Often, you can find practice guidelines by searching the websites of the Institutes within the National Institutes of Health network. Try using each website's "Search" feature to look for "clinical practice guidelines", "practice guidelines", or "guidelines".

American College of Physicians

Evidence-based guidelines on many topics relating to internal medicine.

Health Services/Technology Assessment Text (HSTAT)

HSTAT is a free searchable collection of large, full-text clinical practice guidelines, technology assessments, quick-reference guides for clinicians, consumer health brochures, evidence reports, and health information.

VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs)

Developed and produced by the Office of Quality and Performance in the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

National Guildeline Clearinghouse

The National Guildeline Clearinghouse (NGC) was a comprehensive and searchable database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Funding for the NGC ran out in 2018, but resources are still available through the AHRQ Clinical Guidelines and Recommendations. This information is not being updated. 

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