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Update Clinical Care Guidelines

Benefits of Guidelines

Clinical care guidelines serve as a framework for clinical decisions and support best practices. Guidelines are developed through a critical review of the medical literature, outcomes research, and clinical practice standards of care for diagnosing and treating the symptoms of disease. Benefits include:

  • Provides evidence-based clinical guidance.
    • The level of evidence for each recommendation is included.
  • Assesses the likely benefits and harms of a particular treatment
    • Strength of a specific recommendation is also rated and includes overall assessment of the treatment and impact of treatment.
  • Enables clinicians to select the best care for a unique patient based on the patient’s preferences, the medical evidence, and the available options. In other words, the goal is patient-centered treatment. 
  • Integrates newly approved medical interventions so that patients and their doctors can make informed decisions.
  • Ensures current standard of care is provided to patients with rare diseases or diseases that are challenging to treat especially when access to specialists familiar with the disease is limited.

Resources

Guideline Development Process
Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust: Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (link)
Disseminating the Guidelines
Consensus Clinical Management Guidelines For Friedreich’s Ataxia Friedrich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) (link)