2009 AAN GUIDELINES, GUIDELINES TOOLS AND MEASURES

2009 AAN GUIDELINES, GUIDELINES TOOLS AND MEASURES


THE OFFICIAL GUIDELINES OF AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY



Guideline Tools

This CD-ROM contains a variety of guideline companion tools, including:
Patient/Caregiver Guideline Summaries

Use the patient and caregiver summaries to describe to your patients and their families how you will diagnose, evaluate, and treat their condition on the basis of the evidence. Print and duplicate as needed to share with patients, and place in your office or waiting room.
Clinician Guideline Summaries

Clinician summaries conveniently provide essential information from the guideline. Refer to the clinician summary when making diagnosis and treatment decisions. Print clinician summaries and keep them handy for quick and easy reference.
Case Studies with Coding

Case studies with coding depict a real-world example of a patient presenting with the condition of interest and how the practice guideline evidence would pertain. Coding discussions are included. Share these with your colleagues, at state society meetings, in grand rounds, and with residents and medical students.
Presentation Tools

Share presentations based on practice guideline evidence with your colleagues, at state society meetings, in grand rounds, and with residents and medical students. Insert these slides in your presentations.
Guideline Purpose and Process

The AAN develops clinical practice guidelines to assist its members in clinical decision making—particularly in situations of controversy or variation in practice.
Most Common Uses for AAN Guidelines:

    * Improve health outcomes for patients
    * Stay abreast of the latest in clinical research
    * Appeal payment denials
    * Provide medico-legal protection
    * Advocate for fair reimbursement
    * Determine whether your practice follows current, best evidence
    * Affirm the role of neurologists in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders
    * Influence public or hospital policy
    * Promote efficient use of resources
    * Identify research priorities based on gaps in current literature
    * Reduce inappropriate practice variation

Guideline Development Process

The Quality Standards Subcommittee (QSS) develops practice parameters and practice advisories. The Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee (TTA) develops technology assessments. Both subcommittees form expert panels to critically assess all of the relevant literature on a given topic or technology. Evidence is rated on the basis of quality of study design, and clinical practice recommendations are developed and stratified to reflect the quality and the content of the evidence.
Key Steps of the Process

   1. Select guideline topic
   2. Form panel of experts
   3. Develop clinical questions
   4. Comprehensively review literature
   5. Summarize findings of evidence
   6. Make explicit, evidence-based practice recommendations
   7. Conduct extensive peer review of guideline draft
   8. Obtain AAN approval of guideline

AAN Guidelines Are "Above the Fray"

The editorial below discusses the transparency and rigor of the American Academy of Neurology guideline development process.

Franklin, G.M.; Zahn, C.A. AAN clinical practice guidelines: above the fray. NEUROLOGY 2002; 59: 975-976.
The Use of Evidence-based Guidelines

The articles below define evidence-based guidelines and their utility for the practicing physician:

French, J.; Gronseth, G. Lost in a jungle of evidence: We need a compass. Neurology 2008;71:1634-1638.

French, J.; Gronseth, G. Practice parameters and technology assessments: What they are, what they are not, and why you should care. Neurology 2008;71:1639-1643.
A Neurologist's Guide to Guidelines

A Neurologist's Guide to Guidelines written by Janis Miyasaki, MD, FAAN and Esther Bui, BSc, MD.


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