CIN

Clinical Guidelines Resources

  1. General Resources
  2. Professional Society Resources
  3. Suggested Strategy

1. General Resources

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

https://www.ahrq.gov/

A free resource for comparative effectiveness reviews, technical briefs, Technology Assessment Program reports, and evidence-based practice center reports.

Cochrane Library

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/

A collection of databases, including The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) comprised of independent peer-reviewed systematic reviews and protocols to inform healthcare decision-making.

ECRI Guidelines Trust*

https://guidelines.ecri.org

A publicly available repository of objective, evidence-based clinical practice guideline content.

*Requires free account registration.

Guideline Central**

https://www.guidelinecentral.com/

Partners with over 35 medical specialty societies to create and disseminate guidelines in various formats.

**Free access to guidelines: some paid features exist but are not necessary for accessing guidelines.

Guidelines International Network (GIN)

An organization dedicated to improving healthcare through evidence-based guidelines that maintains an open-access library and registry.

Health Services/Technology Assessment Texts

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK16710/

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

https://www.nice.org.uk

Guidelines for UK National Health Services, freely accessible.

PubMed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?otool=wiauhclib

More than 39 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books.

TRIP Database (Turning Research Into Practice)

https://www.tripdatabase.com/

A free clinical search engine with filters to find evidence-based answers, including guidelines, images, videos, and patient information.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)

https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org

VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines

https://www.healthquality.va.gov/

 

2. Specialty Professional Societies

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Practice/Clinical%20Practice%20Guidelines/AACAP/Resources_for_Primary_Care/Practice_Parameters_and_Resource_Centers/Practice_Parameters.aspx

American Academy of Dermatology

https://www.aad.org/member/clinical-quality/guidelines

American Academy of Neurology

https://www.aan.com/practice/guidelines

American Academy of Pediatrics

https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/

American Cancer Society

https://www.cancer.org/health-care-professionals/american-cancer-society-prevention-early-detection-guidelines.html

American College of Cardiology

https://www.acc.org/guidelines

American College of Chest Physicians

https://www.chestnet.org/guidelines-and-topic-collections

American College of Physicians

https://www.acponline.org/clinical-information/clinical-guidelines-recommendations

American Diabetes Association

https://www.guidelinecentral.com/guidelines/ada/

American Heart Association

https://www.heart.org/en

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/clinical-practice-guidelines

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists

https://www.ashp.org/pharmacy-practice/policy-positions-and-guidelines?loginreturnUrl=SSOCheckOnly

American Urological Association

https://www.auanet.org/guidelines-and-quality/guidelines

Association for Clinical Oncology

https://www.asco.org/practice-patients/guidelines

Infectious Diseases Society of America

https://www.idsociety.org/practice-guideline/practice-guidelines/#/+/0/date_na_dt/desc/

National Cancer Institute

https://www.cancer.gov/publications/reports

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/resources?f%5B0%5D=language%3AEnglish

Registered Nurses Association of Ontario

https://rnao.ca/bpg/guidelines

More than 50 guidelines covering nine categories: children and youth; clinical; equity, diversity and inclusion; foundational; health system; healthy work environment; mental health and substance use; older adults; and population health.

3. Suggested Strategy

  1. Start with ECRI Guidelines Trust or Guideline Central for cross-specialty searches.
  2. Use government agency websites (WHO, CDC, USPSTF) for public health and prevention.
  3. Go directly to professional society websites for specialty-specific guidelines.
  4. Search PubMed with "practice guideline" filters.
  5. Use TRIP database for comprehensive evidence-based searching.
  6. Check if your institution provides access to additional databases.