Developing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and appropriate use criteria (AUC) isn’t easy. And when it comes to these and other evidence-based medicine (EBM) tools, few professional medical organizations can match the AAOS in experience, expertise, and proprietary technology.

But professional medical organizations realize the importance of physician-developed CPGs and AUC. Their members want and need these evidence-based clinical decision tools to improve patient care and address regulatory requirements.

The AAOS Evidence-Based Quality and Value Committee and the staff-led EBM Unit have taken many strides in improving and refining the methodology and technology used for developing and disseminating CPGs and AUC. That’s attracted the attention of other professional medical organizations that are starting to develop systematic literature reviews, CPGs, and/or AUC. In fact, the AAOS has already been approached by professional medical societies wanting to use its experience, expertise, and technological advancements to take their EBM products to the next level.

Two years ago, both the North American Spine Society (NASS) and the International Spine Intervention Society (ISIS) were interested in developing an AUC app similar to the one created by the AAOS. They also needed help in addressing the enormous task of aggregating and analyzing the appropriateness ratings of their voting panels.

NASS and ISIS contracted with the AAOS EBM Unit to help them meet these goals. As a result, the EBM Unit began providing informal consulting services to societies with budding AUC programs, giving them the experience of AAOS staff. In addition, societies can license the AAOS AUC application and balloting tool, adapted to fit the needs of their respective AUC programs.

NASS has since published its first AUC (on cervical fusion), and ISIS plans to publish its AUC soon as well.

Licensing options
These experiences and the merits of the AAOS EBM products have triggered interest among other professional orthopaedic societies that want to take advantage of the technological advancements created by the AAOS EBM Unit and the expertise of the AAOS staff. As a result, licensing options for the AAOS EBM Unit’s AUC, CPG, and Literature Review development technologies are now available.

The EBM Unit can also provide consulting services to assist societies in developing their CPGs and AUC. The EBM Unit is currently working with two nonorthopaedic organizations that are looking for technology and expertise to assist in developing and disseminating their CPGs and AUC.

The AAOS EBM Unit looks forward to lending their expertise to more organizations in the future. To learn more about the proprietary technology that has been developed to increase efficiency in developing and disseminating systematic reviews, CPGs and AUC, see the links in the online version of this article, available at www.aaosnow.org

Societies that are interested in finding out more about the technology developed by the AAOS EBM Unit or are seeking guidance to help develop systematic literature reviews, CPGs, or AUC should contact Jayson Murray, EBM Unit manager, at jmurray@aaos.org

Jayson Murray, MA, is the manager of the EBM Unit in the AAOS department of research and scientific affairs; Ryan Pezold, MA, is a research analyst in the EBM Unit.

Additional Information:

• AAOS AUC App
• NASS AUC
• Enhancing EBM with Proprietary Technology