Best Practices

AHRQ Making Healthcare Safer Reports

Best Practices: Reports to help inform best practices in a variety of settings across the health care system. AHRQ consolidates information for healthcare providers, health system administrators, researchers, and government agencies to improve patient safety.

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AHRQ Evidence-based Centers Program

Organizations for QI: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) created the Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) in 1997 to conduct evidence reports for the Effective Health Care (EHC) Program. In December 2019, the latest 5-year contracts were awarded to 9 EPCs. The EPCs are housed at universities, medical centers, and research institutions in the United States. The EPCs produce evidence reports on medications, devices, and other health care services for the EHC Program with the goal of helping consumers, health care professionals, and policymakers make informed and evidence-based health care decisions.

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Implementing Improvements: Opportunities to Integrate Quality Improvement and Implementation Science

Guidelines/Clinical Documents: In hospitals, improvers and implementers use quality improvement science (QIS) and less frequently implementation research (IR) to improve health care and health outcomes. Narrowly defined quality improvement (QI) guided by QIS focuses on transforming…

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2020 Canadian Cardiovascular Society/Canadian Heart Rhythm Society Comprehensive Guidelines for the Management of Atrial Fibrillation (Andrade et al, Can J Cardiol [CJC] 2020 and SUPPL)

Guidelines/Clinical Documents: Guidelines from CCS to inform best practices for clinicians across all disciplines while treating AFib patients. This document should be an important aid for knowledge translation and a tool to help improve clinical management of this important and challenging arrhythmia.

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Oral Anticoagulation in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation and a CHA2DS2-VASc Score of 1

Guidelines/Clinical Documents: Guidelines document outlining best practices for oral anticoagulation in patients with nonvalvular AFib and a CHA2DS2-VASc Score of 1.

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Updated Clinical Practice Guideline: Pharmacologic Management of Newly Detected Atrial Fibrillation (Frost et al, 2017)

Guidelines/Clinical Documents: To review the evidence and provide clinical recommendations for the pharmacologic management of atrial fibrillation. Methods: This guideline is based on two systematic reviews of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective and retrospective observational studies from 2000 to 2012. An updated literature search was performed to identify new studies from 2012 to December 31, 2015. The targeted audience for the guideline includes all primary care clinicians, and the targeted patient population includes adults who have nonvalvular atrial fibrillation that is not due to a reversible cause. This guideline was developed using a modified version of GRADE to evaluate the quality of the evidence and make recommendations based on the balance of benefits and harms.

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Guidelines for the Primary Prevention of Stroke: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the AHA/ASA

Guidelines/Clinical Documents: Guidelines document outlining best practices for the primary prevention of stroke among individuals who have not previously experienced a stroke or transient ischemic attack.

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2017 HRS/EHRA/ECAS/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation

Guidelines/Clinical Documents: This best practices clinical document is a 2017 update to the 2012 consensus statement on catheter and surgical AF ablation, to reflect the many advances in tools, techniques and outcomes of AF ablation. The document is a collaborative effort with HRS, EHRA, ECAS, APHRS, and SOLAECE.

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Rationale, considerations, and goals for atrial fibrillation centers of excellence: A Heart Rhythm Society perspective

Guidelines/Clinical Documents: This manuscript builds on the work of a diverse, multiple-stakeholder Think Tank meeting and multidisciplinary Inter-pro Forum educational activity held in January 2019, both led by the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). When examining the current clinical landscape, the Think Tank concluded that there is a clear need for AF CoEs to improve AF care and its delivery. In this manuscript, HRS hopes to accelerate this evolution by reviewing the rationale for AF CoEs, the available evidence for integrated and multidisciplinary care, and future challenges and opportunities. The document also defines the key priorities to be used as a guide for HRS and its diverse stakeholders to build consensus on defining the core components of an AF CoE.

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