June 30, 2008

The following new/updated information was posted to the NGC Web site the week of June 30, 2008.

American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Practice parameters for the use of autotitrating continuous positive airway pressure devices for titrating pressures and treating adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: an update for 2007. This updates a previously published guideline summary.

Caring for Australasians with Renal Impairment

Calcium x phosphate product.

Calcium.

Membranous nephropathy: role of alkylating agents.

Membranous nephropathy: role of steroids.

Parathyroid hormone.

Serum phosphate.

Specific management of IgA nephropathy: role of cyclosporine and other therapies.

Specific management of IgA nephropathy: role of tonsillectomy.

Specific management of IgA nephropathy: role of triple therapy and cytotoxic therapy.

National Society of Genetic Counselors

Risk assessment and genetic counseling for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer: recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors.

Expert Commentary

New Perspective: The American Heart Association's "Get With The Guidelines Program": Key Findings and Lessons Learned.

Guideline Synthesis

Updated Skin Cancer: Part I. Screening and Prevention synthesis includes revised recommendations from PEBC.

Newly Submitted

• NASS has submitted a new guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.
• SCCM has updated the following:
  • Guidelines for evaluation of new fever in critically ill adult patients
  • Recommendations for end-of-life care in the intensive care unit

To view a list of other guidelines in the NGC work queue, please visit our Guidelines In Progress page.

Annotated Bibliographies

The NGC Annotated Bibliographies database has been updated for the 18th time. Over 150 citations for recent guideline-related articles were added to this resource, most with links to Pubmed and/or associated full text files.

Effective Health Care

Two new summary guides are available from AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program:

• Clinician Summary Guide: Fracture Prevention Treatments for Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis
• Consumer Summary Guide: Osteoporosis Treatments That Help Prevent Broken Bones: A Guide for Women After Menopause

Conference News

• AHRQ's 2008 Annual Conference is September 7-10 in Bethesda, MD. Learn about AHRQ's latest research aimed at improving quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of care from leading experts involved in AHRQ-sponsored research and implementation projects. Register now.
  • Sunday, September 7, 2008: NGC/NQMC Clearinghouse Day (by invitation only) -- Bringing together developer organizations participating in NGC and NQMC for the purposes of (1) exchanging information related to guideline and measure development, dissemination, implementation, and maintenance, (2) discussing ways to forge closer relationships between guidelines and measures to facilitate improved patient care, and (3) providing insight to AHRQ and its technical contractor for NGC and NQMC, ECRI Institute, on how to improve these resources.
  • Monday, September 8, 2008: GRADE Workshop for Guideline Developers -- The GRADE Working Group has developed a sensible and systematic approach to grading quality of evidence and strength of clinical recommendations. In this workshop, members of the GRADE Working Group will share their approach with guideline developers, offer guided assistance in applying the approach to case examples, and highlight "best practices" and helpful resources. By attending this workshop, guideline developers will gain an understanding of the GRADE methodology and be better prepared to develop evidence-based clinical practice guidelines that have greater consistency and transparency.
• The 5th annual Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) conference, will be held October 1-3, 2008. Register online now. The theme of the conference is "Implementation in Practice." Special focus will be given to guideline implementation, collaboration in guideline production, evidence in guidelines, and guidelines and power. For further information and details about registration, please visit the G-I-N Conference Web site.

Healthy People 2010

See NGC's Frequently Requested Search page for a selection of pre-set searches of NGC for guidelines related to the Healthy People 2010 focus areas, as well as other public health and patient safety topics.

NGC's Sister Resources

Find Innovations and QualityTools classified by disease or clinical category, patient population, stage of care, setting of care, and more in AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange Web site.

Look for Quality Measures in AHRQ's National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC).

Other Resources

To locate a previous issue of "What's New This Week," go to the What's New Archive.

Questions or suggestions about the "What's New" feature are welcome -- please send e-mail to: info@guideline.gov.

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