It is important that the medical profession play a central role in critically evaluating the use of diagnostic procedures and therapies introduced and tested for detection, management or prevention of disease. Rigorous, expert analysis of the available data documenting absolute and relative benefits and risks of these procedures and therapies can produce guidelines that improve the effectiveness of care, optimize patient outcomes, and favorably affect the cost of care by focusing resources on the most effective strategies.
The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have jointly engaged in the production of guidelines in the area of cardiovascular disease since 1980. The American College of Cardiology (ACC)/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines
is charged with developing, updating, and revising practice guidelines for cardiovascular diseases and procedures and directs this effort. Writing committees are charged with assessing the evidence as an independent group of authors to develop, update, or revise recommendations for clinical practice.
Experts in the subject under consideration have been selected from both organizations to examine subject-specific data and write guidelines in partnership with representatives from other medical practitioner and specialty groups. Writing committees are specifically charged to perform a formal literature review, weigh the strength of evidence for or against particular treatments or procedures, and include estimates of expected health outcomes where data exist.
Patient-specific modifiers, comorbidities, and issues of patient preference that might influence the choice of tests or therapies are considered, as well as the frequency of follow-up and cost-effectiveness. When available, information from studies on cost is considered, but data on efficacy and clinical outcomes constitute the primary basis for recommendations in these guidelines.
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