Developing Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs)

CPGs Improve Care, Control Expenses

CPGs are defined by the US Institute of Medicine as “systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate healthcare for specific clinical circumstances” and have become a valuable tool that helps improve both quality of care, as well as control expenses.

AIHA’s CPG Pilot Program

From 2000-2004, AIHA supported collaboration among partners who shared similar concerns and encouraged the use of guidelines within partnership institutions to facilitate change, standardize recommendations, and reduce duplication of effort.

CPG development programs were created and implemented at AIHA Primary Healthcare Centers, guided by a steering committee and reinforced by skills-building workshops.

Common public health programs such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension were the focus of most quality improvement efforts. Also, efforts related to prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, patient education, follow-up and monitoring, and referrals to a specialist or to the hospital were emphasized.

Clinical Practice Guidelines Process Manual

A major undertaking for members of AIHA’s Clinical Practice Guidelines Regionwide Advisory Committee was the development of a 70-page Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) Process Manual. This manual was created to serve as a guide for partners and policymakers looking to adapt and implement guidelines and make more informed decisions about preventing illness and managing disease.

The manual is a comprehensive resource and provides key definitions and terms, strategies, and practical steps for selecting and developing guidelines that you can use in your Primary Healthcare Center. In addition, it can help you translate guidelines into action as well as evaluate and update existing guidelines as needed.

Overview of the Program Elements/Steps

1. Establish Steering Committees
2. Provide Training on the CPG Process
3. Develop CPGs
4. Select a Change Agent
5. Develop Indicators
6. Measure and Evaluate

Step 1: Establish Steering Committees

Helpful Resources
	Primary Health Care Guidelines Planning Meeting Held in Moscow (AIHA Connections, May 2000)

The first step in developing CPGs involved identifying priorities. In the AIHA partnership programs, this was accomplished through steering committees. These steering committees were established as vehicles to approve recommendations and guidelines. They generally met twice a year.

AIHA recommends a similar approach for institutions wishing to develop their own guidelines. Be sure to include stakeholders on your committee from your Ministry of Health or a similar governmental organization. In doing so, you help ensure that the guidelines you develop have the potential to be used by a broader audience beyond your own Primary Healthcare Center, perhaps even at a national level.

To learn more about establishing steering committees, click here to access resources used in AIHA partnership programs.

To read and learn from actual committee notes taken from an AIHA partner steering committee meeting, click here.

Click here for Step 2, Provide Training on the CPG Process.