P69– CMA Infobase

PRIMARY TRACK

Guideline implementation

SECONDARY TRACK

Guideline implementation methods

BACKGROUND (INTRODUCTION)

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are “systemically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances.” To help physicians access CPGs and adopt evidence-based best practice, the CMA Infobase was created by the Canadian Medical Association in 1994 and has since grown into the most comprehensive online source of Canadian CPGs with 1200 CPGs included.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES (TRAINING GOALS)

1

Assess physicians' information needs for clinical practice support tools.

METHODS

A user survey was conducted online during April 1-30, 2009. The questionnaire included 11 questions about user demographics, purpose and frequency of visits, satisfaction, desirable features, and experience with CPG development and implementation.

RESULTS

A total of 512 users responded. Overall, physicians were highly satisfied (83%). The top two reasons for visits were continuing education (80%) and acquiring information for managing a clinical case (63%). Clinical pearls – short, practical summaries of CPGs (90%), integrated accredited CME (81%), and e-mail alert of new CPGs (81%) were among the highest rated features, followed by peer review of CPGs (66%).

DISCUSSION (CONCLUSION)

Physicians' enthusiasm about clinical pearls concurs with research findings that lack of user-friendly format of CPGs might be one of the barriers to CPG adherence. Creating CPG summaries with clear, succinct, and actionable recommendations might help physicians adopt evidence-based decision-making in the patient care delivery process. Enhanced educational material such as online learning modules of CPGs might help physicians assimilate research evidence. Quality rating of CPGs based on critical appraisal interests physicians given the growing number of CPGs of varied quality.

TARGET AUDIENCE(S)

1

Guideline developer