Understanding Physician Adherence With a Pneumonia Practice Guideline

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
THE USE OF clinical practice guidelines in health care has grown rapidly and is now widespread.1 Practice guidelines have been advocated as a means to improve quality, decrease costs, reduce variation, and/or foster evidence-based decision making.2 Guideline recommendations must be implemented to achieve the desired outcomes. However, systematic reviews of the literature have documented the commonsense observation that guidelines do not always guide practice.3-9 Rates of adherence with guidelines are extremely variable, ranging from 20% to nearly 100%, depending on the guideline and definition of adherence.3-9