July 27, 2018 — Following the deactivation of the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the ECRI Institute announced that it will continue providing a centralized source for evidence-based information on clinical practice guidelines.
“ECRI Institute’s team of highly trained guideline and measure experts are taking the lead to ensure the global healthcare community has access to guidelines,” said Karen M. Schoelles, M.D., SM, FACP, director, ECRI Institute-Penn Medicine Evidence-based Practice Center and director, Health Technology Assessment Consulting Services, ECRI Institute.
ECRI Institute’s new guideline resource will provide a centralized repository of current, properly vetted evidence-based clinical practice guideline summaries and other information. An interim website will launch this fall, with many additional features planned for the near future.
The initial site will enable users to search and retrieve ECRI’s summarizations of clinical practice guidelines from hundreds of participating guideline developers. It will include unbiased evaluations on the rigor and transparency of guidelines against the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) standards for trustworthiness.
“Not all guidelines are created equal. Clinicians want to know what stands behind a particular recommendation, and whether they can trust that recommendation,” said Jane Jue, M.D., MSc, medical director, ECRI Institute. “Trustworthy guidance is the real value that we will be providing.”
The second phase will feature advanced search capabilities, support for guideline implementation and decision-making, and an enhanced user interface.
Participating guideline developers will be able to access and contribute to the website free of charge.
For more information: www.ecri.org/guidelines