Clinical guidelines for chronic conditions in the European Union / edited by Helena Legido-Quigley, Dimitra Panteli, Josip Car, Martin McKee, Reinhard Busse.

Includes bibliographical references.

Part 1. Overview, conceptual framework and methods : -- Part 2. Mapping clinical guidelines in Europe : -- Part 3. Case studies on clinical guidelines for the prevention : -- Part 4. Are guidelines in Europe well developed? Are they well : -- Part 5. Conclusions, policy recommendations and areas for : -- Part 6. European country profiles on clinical guidelines : -- --

Part 1. Overview, conceptual framework and methods : -- Clinical guidelines: background and overview -- Evidence-based medicine and clinical guidelines -- Aims and definitions of clinical guidelines -- The need to evaluate clinical guidelines -- AGREE -- Conceptual framework and methodology for the following sections -- Conceptual framework -- Methodology -- -- Part 2. Mapping clinical guidelines in Europe : -- Background -- Countries with "well-established" activities -- Countries "making progress" in the development of clinical guidelines -- Countries "recently adopting" some guidelines or where these are "in -- the planning stage" -- Regulatory basis -- Quality control -- AGREE instrument widely used -- No quality requirement, AGREE instrument often used -- Countries following an adapted version of AGREE -- Countries using other instruments -- No formal processes to assess the quality of clinical guidelines -- Development -- Institutions and organizations responsible for developing clinical guidelines -- Guidelines produced by a central agency -- Multiple actors are involved and there is a central component in place -- Multiple actors produce guidance without central coordination -- Levels of operation -- Local guidelines are developed by centralized guidelines -- Centralized guidelines are developed by regional agencies -- Implementation -- Mandatory and legal aspects -- Implementation aids -- Financial incentives -- Evaluation -- Formal evaluation of clinical guidelines -- No formal evaluations of clinical guidelines -- Discussion -- -- Part 3. Case studies on clinical guidelines for the prevention : -- and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus -- Introduction -- United Kingdom (England) -- Germany -- France -- Malta -- Spain -- Slovenia -- Conclusions -- -- Part 4. Are guidelines in Europe well developed? Are they well : -- implemented? Do they have any impact? A systematic review -- of the literature -- Introduction -- Objectives -- Methods -- Search and screening -- Data extraction and analysis -- Results -- Result of the literature search -- Methodological quality of clinical guidelines -- Effects of implementation strategies -- Effectiveness of implementation strategies -- Impact of clinical guidelines on process of care and patients' health outcomes -- Discussion -- Priorities for research -- Conclusions -- -- Part 5. Conclusions, policy recommendations and areas for : -- further study -- -- Part 6. European country profiles on clinical guidelines : -- Questionnaire template sent out to authors -- Austria -- Belgium -- Bulgaria -- Cyprus -- Czech Republic -- Denmark -- Estonia -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Hungary -- Ireland -- Italy -- Latvia -- Lithuania -- Luxembourg -- Malta -- The Netherlands -- Norway -- Poland -- Portugal -- Romania -- Slovakia -- Slovenia -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- United Kingdom (England).

"A new study by a team of European researchers examines for the first time the various national practices relating to clinical guidelines. It looks at the situation in 29 European countries (the EU27, plus Norway and Switzerland) and concludes that while some countries might have made progress many others are still relying on sporadic and unclear processes. There are, however, tried and tested examples which, if shared, could assure and improve the quality of health care across Europe."--Publisher's website.