The backbone of guideline development is the balance sheet, which leads to informed decision making. For most guideline teams, discussions about the balance sheet determine the final guideline. Since guidelines are decision tools, the heart of any guideline is the information that is organized to allow patients to be involved in decision making in a meaningful way. There are several key steps involved in putting the guideline into final form. This is one of the most engaging aspects of guideline work - it is one of the aspects that teams excel at.
All participants can contribute ideas that improve the final product.
It is helpful to have a very brief statement of the key aspects of the guideline, including the reasons for development and the objectives of the guideline. The Annotated Algorithm . The algorithm is the graphical display of the key issues in the care of the condition addressed by the guideline. They are an excellent way to organize a large amount of information into a format that can be used in practice. Annotating the algorithm provides a way to link the evidence directly to the tool for practice, especially in electronic formats.