Practice Guidelines: Useful and "Participative" Method?

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Abstract
EFFORTS TO improve quality and appropriateness of care based on practice guidelines have been implemented in various countries and have produced inconsistent effects on physicians' behavior, ranging from success to failure.1-3 Physicians' attitudes toward guidelines4,5 and the way they are implemented3,6,7 can help explain these results more than their methodological quality,8,9 which is often poor, as has been suggested recently, especially for guidelines developed by scientific societies.10 A nationwide practice guidelines program has been launched recently in Italy with the goal of supporting the effectiveness, appropriateness, and equity of health care interventions.11 This program could play a central role in guideline development and in local actions for implementation.