[Practice guidelines in western countries].

Abstract

The concept of clinical practice guidelines was established in the 1960's to reduce medical costs that had been increasing dramatically in the US. To reduce medical expenses without lowering the quality of medical care, thorough control of medical practices was undertaken by rationalization of these practices. Guidelines were started initially for social and economical reasons, but were eventually accepted widely by society for several reasons. First, the concept of patients' autonomy was widely accepted after 1970, which supported full disclosure of information to patients. Second, there was too much information, necessitating ranking by scientific certainty. Third, the risk of litigation for doctors in the USA increased dramatically during these years. Whether a medical practice follows the guidelines or not has become one of the most important issues in medical lawsuits. Fourth, there is a constant demand for the effective use of social resources. Methods for developing clinical practice guidelines are already established in many societies. The first step is an intensive review of relevant articles to generate evidence-based recommendations (EBR). Then, to formulate practice guidelines, these EBR are ratified and modified by clinicians to whom they apply. They are then reviewed by independent experts. After final adjustment of the EBR or guidelines for administrative reasons, they are adopted with a future expiry date. Practice guidelines are not actually adopted in European countries. However, the concept of guidelines is well appreciated and medical practice is based on scientific evidence. In socialistic European countries like Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands, there is huge pressure to control limited social resources, leading to aggressive efforts to reduce unexplained and inappropriate variations in medical practice.