Combating information chaos: a case for collaborative clinical guidelines in a pandemic

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Public Health
• Digital Health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic generated vast amounts of information, necessitating rapid development of clinical guidance.
• Existing methods for guideline creation were insufficient for the pandemic's speed and scale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and impact of COVIDProtocols.org, a digital platform for creating and disseminating COVID-19 clinical guidelines.
• To present COVIDProtocols.org as a model for efficient, open-access guideline development during health crises.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Collaborative Writing Application (CWA) for expedited expert review.
• Implemented a web platform for direct content deployment from the CWA to minimize delays.
• Engaged over 200 volunteer contributors across more than 30 medical specialties.

Main Results:

• COVIDProtocols.org achieved over 500,000 users from 196 countries.
• The platform provided open creative-commons content, widely adopted by governments and institutions.
• Successfully facilitated rapid guideline development and dissemination, combating misinformation.

Conclusions:

• COVIDProtocols.org demonstrated a successful model for creating and distributing evidence-based clinical guidelines during a global health crisis.
• The platform's collaborative and open-access approach effectively shared expertise and countered misinformation.
• This digital strategy is adaptable for future public health emergencies.