Better guidelines for better care: enhancing the implementability of clinical practice guidelines

Abstract

The potential of clinical practice guidelines to promote evidence-based care has not been consistently realized. This article outlines how modifying guidelines, and specifically their implementability (the perceived characteristics that influence their use in practice), could be an inexpensive way to improve care. The article uses a planned action model, Graham’s knowledge-to-action framework, to illustrate how this framework can be applied in the context of an ongoing research initiative. It describes each step from knowledge synthesis, to barrier analysis, intervention development and evaluation of a guideline implementability tool that could facilitate uptake of guidelines in clinical practice. This tool targets guideline developers, so that better guidelines may result in better care.

Keywords::

• guidelines
• implementability
• knowledge translation

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.