We recently completed a review of international advances in clinical practice guidance for healthcare professionals. This review aims to ensure that standards for this guidance in Ireland continue to consider the latest innovations and best practices.
Our current standards for clinical practice guidance were found to be relevant and appropriate. However, we did identify innovations which could improve the standards, such as further emphasis on health equity in clinical practice guidance development.
Michelle O’Neill, our Deputy Director of Health Technology Assessment, said: “While health equity has always been a consideration, including it throughout all phases of guidance development is now encouraged, especially in relation to older adults, patients with multiple chronic conditions, and marginalised groups.”
This review was carried out as part of our HRB-CICER* function, which independently reviews evidence and provides scientific support to the development of national clinical guidelines and to the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee (NCEC).
Ms O’Neill continued: “We have shared the innovations in the development and implementation of clinical practice guidance identified in the review with the NCEC. We hope that these innovations can enhance the development and use of clinical practice guidance by healthcare professionals in Ireland.”
Clinical practice guidance includes recommendations, processes or statements for healthcare professions which help guide care for patients with specific conditions. It aims to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare received by the public, and should be based on the best available evidence and practice.
HIQA also identified three tools to assess the quality and or methodological robustness of clinical practice guidance and four other unique key innovations. Examples include new approaches to managing the constantly evolving evidence base, and the use of artificial intelligence in searching for and identifying newly published evidence.
You can find the scoping review on www.hiqa.ie.
* Our HRB-CICER function independently reviews evidence and provides scientific support to the development of national clinical guidelines and to the NCEC. It funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) through the Collaboration in Ireland for Clinical Effectiveness Reviews (CICER), and is hosted by HIQA.