Methods for living guidelines: early guidance based on practical experience. Paper 1: Introduction.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Clinical Practice Guidelines
• Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

• Traditional clinical guidelines require frequent, resource-intensive updates.
• Living guidelines offer a dynamic alternative for rapidly evolving medical fields.
• Consortia like ALEC, NICE, and IDSA have developed practical experience with living guideline methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and delineate methods for developing living guidelines.
• To share practical experiences from multiple organizations involved in living guideline development.
• To outline key differences between traditional and living guideline approaches.

Main Methods:

• Convening a working group with representatives from ALEC, NICE, and the US GRADE Network.
• Sharing practical experiences and outlining methodologies for living guideline development.
• Detailing a six-step process for living guideline implementation.

Main Results:

• Living guideline development involves distinct steps: prioritization, preparation, continuous surveillance, evidence assessment, dissemination, and transition.
• Practical experiences highlight similarities and differences in living guideline approaches across organizations.
• The guidance covers crucial aspects like consumer involvement and search/methods decisions.

Conclusions:

• Living guidelines provide a framework for maintaining up-to-date clinical recommendations.
• The outlined methods offer a practical approach for organizations developing living guidelines.
• This work serves as a foundation for further exploration of living guideline methodologies.