Guideline Tools

This CD-ROM contains a variety of guideline companion tools, including:

Patient/Caregiver Guideline Summaries

Use the patient/caregiver summaries to describe to your patients and their families how you will diagnose, evaluate, and treat their condition based on the evidence. Print and duplicate as needed to share with patients and place in your office or waiting room.

Clinician Guideline Summaries

Clinician summaries conveniently provide essential information from the guideline. Refer to the clinician summary when making diagnosis and treatment decisions. Print clinician summaries and keep them handy for quick and easy reference.

Presentation Tools

Share presentations based on practice guideline evidence with your colleagues, at state society meetings, in grand rounds, and with residents and medical students. Insert these slides in your presentations.

Case Studies

Vignettes bring the guidelines to life through tangible examples of clinical scenarios.  Included with the cases are coding, billing, and patient safety tips as applicable.

Guideline Purpose & Process

The AAN develops clinical practice guidelines to assist its members in clinical decision making—particularly in situations of controversy or variation in practice.

Most Common Uses for AAN Guidelines:

• Improve health outcomes for patients
• Stay abreast of the latest in clinical research
• Appeal payment denials
• Provide medico-legal protection
• Advocate for fair reimbursement
• Determine whether your practice follows current, best evidence
• Affirm the role of neurologists in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders
• Influence public or hospital policy
• Promote efficient use of resources
• Identify research priorities based on gaps in current literature
• Reduce inappropriate practice variation

Guideline Development Process

The Quality Standards Subcommittee (QSS) develops practice parameters and practice advisories. The Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee (TTA) develops technology assessments. Both subcommittees form expert panels to critically assess all of the relevant literature on a given topic or technology. Evidence is rated based on quality of study design, and clinical practice recommendations are developed and stratified to reflect the quality and the content of the evidence.

Key Steps of the Process

1. Select guideline topic
2. Form panel of experts
3. Develop clinical questions
4. Comprehensive review of literature
5. Summarize findings of evidence
6. Make explicit, evidence-based practice recommendations
7. Extensive peer review of guideline draft
8. AAN approval of guideline

AAN Guidelines Are "Above the Fray"

The editorial below discusses the transparency and rigor of the American Academy of Neurology guideline development process.

Franklin, G.M.; Zahn, C.A. AAN clinical practice guidelines: above the fray. NEUROLOGY 2002; 59: 975-976.

A Neurologist's Guide to Guidelines

A Neurologist's Guide to Guidelines written by Janis Miyasaki, MD, FAAN and Esther Bui, BSc, MD.

Additional Guideline Resources

Full-text guidelines are also available on the web at www.aan.com or by contacting AAN Member Services at memberservices@aan.com or (800) 879-1960.

This resource includes guidelines published between January 1995 and February 2008. Please visit the AAN Website for information on guidelines published after February 2008.

The AAN Pocket Guidelines provide concise summaries of AAN guidelines in a pocket-sized book or on PDA. To obtain this invaluable reference please contact AAN Member Services at memberservices@aan.com or (800) 879-1960 or visit the AAN Website at www.aan.com.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® is required to view the guidelines.  Please visit www.adobe.com to obtain a free version of the software.