Appendix A
Abbreviations and Acronyms
AAN American Academy of Neurology
AANN American Association of Neuroscience Nurses
ACC American College of Cardiology
ACCF American College of Cardiology Foundation
ACCP American College of Chest Physicians
ACP American College of Physicians
ACR American College of Radiology
ACS American Cancer Society
A/F audit and feedback
AGA American Gastroenterology Association
AGO Attorney General’s Office
AGREE Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation instrument
AGS American Geriatrics Society
AHA American Heart Association
AHCPR Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
AHIP America’s Health Insurance Plans
AHRQ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
AMA American Medical Association
ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
ASCO American Society for Clinical Oncology
ATS American Thoracic Society
BCBS Blue Cross Blue Shield
BMD bone mineral density
CAD coronary artery disease
CADTH Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDS computer-aided decision support
CDSC CDS Consortium
CEBM Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
CER comparative effectiveness research
CHF chronic heart failure
CMS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
CMSS Council of Medical Specialty Societies
COGS Conference on Guideline Standardization
COI conflict of interest
COMPUS Canadian Optimal Medication Prescribing and Utilization Service
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
CPG clinical practice guideline
DoD Department of Defense
EBM evidence-based medicine
EHR electronic health record
EPC evidence-based practice center
ESC European Society of Cardiology
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
FTE full-time equivalent
GAP Guidelines Applied in Practice
GDG Guideline Development Group
GEM Guideline Elements Model
GIN Guidelines International Network
GLIF Guideline Interchange Format
GRADE Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation
GWTG American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines
HHS Department of Health and Human Services
HIT health information technology
ICSI Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement
IDSA Infectious Diseases Society of America
IOM Institute of Medicine
INQRI Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative
KFF Kaiser Family Foundation
KDIGO Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes
KDOQI Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative
KWW Knowing What Works in Health Care
MeSH medical subject headings
MIPPA Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act
MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
MSTF U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer
NCCN National Comprehensive Cancer Network
NEJM New England Journal of Medicine
NGC National Guideline Clearinghouse
NGT Nominal Group Technique
NHS National Health System (UK)
NICE National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (UK)
NIH National Institutes of Health
NINR National Institute of Nursing Research
NKF National Kidney Foundation
NQF National Quality Forum
NSAIDs nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
NTIS National Technical Information Service
NZGG New Zealand Guidelines Group
PCORI Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
PGA performance gap assessment
PRD patient-reported data
QIO quality improvement organization
RCT randomized controlled trial
REM risk evaluation and management plan
SCCM Society for Critical Care Medicine
SIGN Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network
SORT Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy
SR systematic review