NHLBI Clinical Guidelines

Abstract

For more than two decades, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has been a leader in conducting national education programs to promote timely transfer of research findings to health professionals, patients, and the general public. An important and visible aspect of this effort has been the development and issuance of clinical guidelines with respect to high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and asthma. Historically, the primary purpose of such guidelines was to serve as a foundation for the many Institute-coordinated educational activities that addressed these topics. Today, clinical practice guidelines have taken on multiple dimensions as a result of increased attention from methodologists, professional associations, third-party payers, and policy makers. It appears likely that future health care strategies, managed or otherwise, will in some fashion have provisions for clinical practice guidelines. To place the NHLBI in the context of these efforts, it is important to understand what our guidelines are and—perhaps more important—what they are not. In developing its guidelines, the NHLBI analyzes research results with the goal of providing information that may enable health care providers to enhance their ability to detect, treat, …