[Patient involvement in clinical practice guidelines is poor after 12 years of German guideline standards: A review of guideline methodologies].

Background: As early as 1997, the German Guideline for Guidelines laid down patient participation in guideline development as the cornerstone of good, trustworthy medical guidelines. The German Guideline Assessment Tool (DELBI) published in 2005 requires patients or relatives to be involved in the development of medical guidelines. Ideally, this should be effected through membership in the author group.

[Conflict of interest in continuing medical education - Studies on certified CME courses].

Objectives: Although the problem of conflict of interest in medical education is discussed intensively, few valid data have been published on how to deal with the form, content, funding, sponsorship, and the influence of economic interests in continuing medical education (CME). Against this background, we carried out an analysis of data which had been documented for the purpose of certification by a German Medical Association. A central aim of the study was to obtain evidence of possible influences of economic interests on continuing medical education.

[Short information leaflets for patients - a service offered to physicians: Early implementation experiences].

Since 2010, the German Agency for Quality in Medicine has developed so-called short information leaflets for patients that are specifically designed for use in doctor-patient encounters. Physicians, patient representatives and communication specialists were involved in the development of this format. Their implementation aims at enhancing awareness and dissemination of these leaflets amongst the members of the self-governing bodies and other multipliers (like medical specialty societies, patient organisations, other bodies and institutions of the healthcare system).

When Choosing Wisely meets clinical practice guidelines.

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation launched the Choosing Wisely campaign in 2012 and until today convinced more than 50 US specialist societies to develop lists of interventions that may not improve people's health but are potentially harmful. We suggest combining these new efforts with the already existing efforts in clinical practice guideline development. Existing clinical practice guidelines facilitate a more participatory and evidence-based approach to the development of top 5 lists.

[Effectiveness of quality assurance programmes for inpatient care in Germany: a literature review].

Background: Over the past decades, a large number of measures for quality management and quality assurance (QM/QA) of healthcare were established in the German healthcare system. Considering the resources required, it has been repeatedly demanded that such quality programmes be checked for their effectiveness. In this context, the present paper describes the results of a systematic literature review to evaluate German QM/QA programmes in the inpatient sector.

[Survey on evidence-based medicine teaching activities in the German-speaking area: a target-group specific analysis].

Introduction: A survey conducted in 2011/12 on evidence-based medicine teaching activities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland shows an apparent increase of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching activities addressing different target groups. The potential target-group specific or generalised nature of teaching activities in EbM were explored by comparing the contents and structures of educational offers in order to detect differences and commonalities.

Methods: First, several large institutions of the healthcare system were contacted.

[Problem areas and examples of best practice in intersectoral medication treatment--a literature review].

Transitions between the outpatient and inpatient sector are a critical phase in medication treatment. This article provides an overview of published problem areas and examples of best practice in the intersectoral medication treatment. Data with regard to related problem areas and examples of best practice was collected in August 2011 by a systematic literature research.

[Clinical practice guidelines and knowledge management in healthcare].

Clinical practice guidelines are key tools for the translation of scientific evidence into everyday patient care. Therefore guidelines can act as cornerstones of evidence based knowledge management in healthcare, if they are trustworthy, and its recommendations are not biased by authors' conflict of interests. Good medical guidelines should be disseminated by means of virtual (digital/electronic) health libraries - together with implementation tools in context, such as guideline based algorithms, check lists, patient information, a.

[Evidence-based medicine teaching activities in the German-speaking area: a survey].

Introduction: In the last 15 years Evidence-based Medicine (EbM) has gained much publicity in the German-speaking countries, but it is currently difficult to conclude how much the contents of EbM with its five steps according to Sackett have spread. Data from the year 2006 show that less than half of all medical faculties in Germany have introduced EbM into undergraduate teaching and that there is a shortage in EbM teaching activities for graduates in the German-speaking countries as well. The goal of this survey is to display the undergraduate and graduate Evidence-based Practice teaching activities in the German-speaking countries.

Simultaneous development of guidelines and quality indicators -- how do guideline groups act? A worldwide survey.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the question of how official bodies, health care organisations, and professional associations deal with the absence of a methodological gold standard for the simultaneous development of clinical practice guidelines and quality indicators, what procedures they use and what they feel are major strengths and limitations of their methods.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a web-based survey among 90 organisational members of the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) representing 34 countries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. All organisational G-I-N members were invited to participate in the survey by following a link provided in the invitation e-mail.

Conflicts of interest among authors of medical guidelines: an analysis of guidelines produced by German specialist societies.

Background: Conflicts of interest can bias the recommendations of clinical guidelines. In 2010, the Association of Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften, AWMF) revised its rules about how conflicts of interest in guidelines should be managed.

Methods: All S2 and S3 guidelines in the AWMF database that were created in the years 2009-2011 were independently examined by two reviewers each (TL, MG, SC, BW, LF, SS).

Guidelines International Network: toward international standards for clinical practice guidelines.

Guideline development processes vary substantially, and many guidelines do not meet basic quality criteria. Standards for guideline development can help organizations ensure that recommendations are evidence-based and can help users identify high-quality guidelines. Such organizations as the U.

[The German National Disease Management Guideline "Chronic Heart Failure"].

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is an illness mostly affecting elderly people. In Germany CHF is one of the most common causes of death and at the same time one of the most common diagnosis in inpatient care. Due to the expected increase in life expectancy in the next few years experts predict a further step-up of the incidence.

[The German Agency for Quality in Medicine (ÄZQ) 1995-2010: 15 years promotion of evidence-based medicine, patient orientation and patient safety].

The German Agency for Quality in Medicine (ÄZQ) was established as a joint institution of the German Medical Association (BÄK) and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) in 1995. Starting as a small quality assurance co-ordination unit of the German physicians' national self-governmental bodies, ÄZQ has been developed during the last decade into a centre of excellence for clinical practice guidelines, patient information, patient safety, evidence-based medicine, and knowledge management. The article summarises the institution's acitivities over the period of 15 years with respect to its national projects and international collaboration, being a founding member of the Guidelines International Network.

[Evidence-based therapy of depression: S3 guidelines on unipolar depression].

Unipolar depressive disorders are among the most frequent reasons for utilizing the health care system. Although efficacious treatments are available and further advances have recently been made there is still a need for improving diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Alignment of treatment on evidence-based treatment guidelines establishes an essential mainstay.

[Methodology and process of developing the S3 guideline for prostate cancer].

Despite the high incidence of prostate cancer and a variability of care due to different options for primary therapy, a comprehensive German clinical guideline has been missing up to now. Therefore, in 2005 the German Society for Urology initiated the development of a multidisciplinary and evidence-based S3 guideline for the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of the different clinical manifestations of prostate cancer. There were 76 experts from 10 different medical societies and organizations including a patient organization involved in the development process.

[What is most important is what comes across : Urological guidelines from the target group's point of view].

Background: Guidelines are developed to improve the quality of patient care. The effect of German urologic guidelines has not been evaluated so far. Therefore, we aimed to systematically investigate the acceptance, use, and quality of the published guidelines from a user's perspective.