How Useful are Clinical Practice Guidelines?

There has been some criticism regarding the use of CPGs. Some have argued that CPGs are not grounded in research data, while others have questioned their clinical utility and applicability. It has also been argued that CPGs do not sufficiently consider the point of view of service users, and that they decrease a clinician’s autonomy. However, when developed using a rigorous methodology and transparent process, high quality guidelines can have multiple benefits. For example, they can:

• Increase consistency of care across clinicians and healthcare settings
• Enhance knowledge translation from research to clinical practice to inform decision-making
• Increase clinician skills and improve quality of care
• Improve patient outcomes by promoting effective treatments
• Reduce unnecessary costs of healthcare services
• Stimulate research to address gaps in knowledge

What Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) Can and Cannot Do

There are a number of misconceptions about practice guidelines. CPGs can indeed:

• Aid healthcare providers in clinical decision-making
• Inform healthcare providers and patients about what to expect from a given intervention (benefits, challenges, etc.)
• Promote effective clinical interventions and discourage ineffective practices
• Reduce variation in healthcare treatments among healthcare providers
• Accelerate the translation of research findings into clinical practice
• Provide evidence-based standards of care to which healthcare providers and healthcare systems can be held accountable

However, CPGs cannot:

• Replace clinical expertise and judgment
• Provide individualized recommendations
• Serve as the sole determinants of treatment plans
• Cover all possible topics or healthcare conditions
• Include recommendations on topics that have not been researched yet