Proceedings of the 1994 Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines Network Workshop.

A workshop on the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) Network was held in Ottawa on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 1994. Five plenary sessions focused on CPGs and the roles of organizations, priority setting, dissemination and implementation, evaluation, and establishment of a network of individuals and organizations active in the CPG field. In general, the participants identified consumers as important stakeholders in CPG processes and agreed that there was a role for national coordination and information gathering, however, local and regional bodies have a role in CPG development, dissemination and implementation. Burden of illness and likeliness that the guidelines would affect the burden were key criteria for setting priorities. Eighteen high-priority topics were identified for CPG development and dissemination. Methods to enhance the effectiveness of dissemination and implementation were identified: improved funding, enhanced research and decreased duplication of effort. Barriers to CPG evaluation were lack of funding and inadequate data sources. Voluntary self-audit was the preferred evaluation method. The participants agreed on three important functions of the network: facilitation, cooperation and communication, operation of a central CPG information centre, and provision of expertise in CPG processes. They also agreed to the use of an existing organization as a secretariat for the network, with a voluntary, informal membership of all those interested.

Proceedings of the 1994 Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines Network Workshop. Journal Articles