Clinical Practice Guidelines

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Abstract
This issue ofThe Journal1contains the first of a series of four articles to be published inJAMAthat summarize selected aspects of a much larger document, "Heart Failure: Evaluation and Care of Patients With Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction," which was published as a clinical practice guideline by the US Department of Health and Human Services.2 See also p 1361. With the support of staff from RAND, a panel of 16 individuals knowledgeable in various aspects of heart failure authored the larger document, while selected members have authored the four subsections accepted for publication inJAMA. The potential value of these and other guidelines is that the authors have carefully evaluated the world's literature, with particular emphasis on well-controlled trials, as the basis for decision making. In the original document, a laudable attempt was made to classify the scientific validity of each study and conclusion using seven