Das Leitlinien-Clearingprogramm der Selbstverwaltungskörperschaften im Gesundheitswesen - Ein Projekt zur Qualitätsförderung in der Medizin

Within the German health system guidelines are increasing considered as a meaningful and nessary aid to decision making. In this context the effectiveness of guidelines essentially depends on their methodical quality. Because of the fact that most of the German-language guidelines introduced within the past years show obvious methodological defects, the Agency for Quality in Medicine developed within the last two years the following programme for quality-assurance and promotion of guidelines: 1. Definition of quality policies for clinical practice guidelines in Germany 2. Establishment of quality demands for guidelines 3. Methods and instruments for quality promotion of guideline programmes 4. Measures to promote and check the quality of guidelines (German Guidelines Clearinghouse) The following article reports on background, aims, instruments, method development and acceptance of the programme.