Invasive Treatments for Low Back Disorders.

Objective: This abbreviated version of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Low Back Disorders guideline reviews the evidence and recommendations developed for invasive treatments used to manage low back disorders.

Methods: Comprehensive systematic literature reviews were accomplished with article abstraction, critiquing, grading, evidence table compilation, and guideline finalization by a multidisciplinary expert panel and extensive peer-review to develop evidence-based guidance. Consensus recommendations were formulated when evidence was lacking and often relied on analogy to other disorders for which evidence exists.

Non-Invasive and Minimally Invasive Management of Low Back Disorders.

Objective: This abbreviated version of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's (ACOEM) Low Back Disorders Guideline reviews the evidence and recommendations developed for non-invasive and minimally invasive management of low back disorders.

Methods: Systematic literature reviews were accomplished with article abstraction, critiquing, grading, evidence table compilation, and guideline finalization by a multidisciplinary expert panel and extensive peer-review to develop evidence-based guidance. Consensus recommendations were formulated when evidence was lacking.

Obesity in the Workplace: Impact, Outcomes, and Recommendations.

Objective: To conduct a comprehensive literature review to develop recommendations for managing obesity among workers to improve health outcomes and to explore the impact of obesity on health costs to determine whether a case can be made for surgical interventions and insurance coverage.

Methods: We searched PubMed from 2011 to 2016, and CINAHL, Scopus, and Cochrane Registry of Clinical Trials for interventions addressing obesity in the workplace.

Results: A total of 1419 articles were screened, resulting in 275 articles being included.

ACOEM practice guidelines: opioids for treatment of acute, subacute, chronic, and postoperative pain.

Description: The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's guidelines have been updated to develop more detailed guidance for treatment of acute, subacute, chronic, and postoperative pain with opioids.

Methods: Literature searches were performed using PubMed, EBSCO, Cochrane Review, and Google Scholar without publication date limits. Of 264,617 articles' titles screened and abstracts reviewed, 263 articles met inclusion criteria.

ACOEM practice guidelines: opioids and safety-sensitive work.

Objective: ACOEM has updated the treatment guidelines concerning opioids. This report highlights the safety-sensitive work recommendation that has been developed.

Methods: Comprehensive literature reviews were accomplished with article abstraction, critiquing, grading, evidence table compilation, and guideline finalization by a multidisciplinary expert panel to develop evidence-based guidance.

Transparency matters: Kaiser Permanente's National Guideline Program methodological processes.

Introduction: The practice-guideline process of collecting, critically appraising, and synthesizing available evidence, then developing expert panel recommendations based on appraised evidence, makes it possible to provide high-quality care for patients. Unwanted variability in the quality and rigor of evidence summaries and Clinical Practice Guidelines has been a long-standing challenge for clinicians seeking evidence-based guidance to support patient care decisions.

Methods: A multidisciplinary group of stakeholders, with representation from all eight Kaiser Permanente Regions, is responsible for creating National Guidelines.

Methodology to update the practice recommendations in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines, second edition.

Objective: To ensure that revisions to the second edition of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) guidelines are as valid and useful as possible.

Methods: The ACOEM Guideline Methodology Committee searched and synthesized the evidence-based medicine literature on systematic review and guideline development. The resulting process and tools were tested during guideline revision, and changes were made to the tools and process.

Evidence-based clinical occupational medicine: updating the ACOEM occupational medicine practice guidelines.

In this article, we review the evolution and application of evidence based medicine and the results of the literature reviews and syntheses incorporated in the second edition of the guidelines. Our intent is to disseminate this information to practitioners treating injured workers and those managing and financing such care and disability management. Use of proven diagnostic, causality, testing,and treatment methods should markedly improve the quality of occupational medical care and make that care more cost effective.