Practice Guidelines

What We Do › Practice Guidelines

“After doing some research … I analyzed the protocols commonly used for neonatal resuscitation and determined what we were doing was indeed less effective and more expensive. Some of the medications we used were completely unnecessary.”

Dr. Nino Berdzuli, an ob/gyn at the Kutaisi Women’s Wellness Center (Kutaisi (Georgia)/Atlanta (Georgia) partnership).

Clinicians in developing and transitioning nations face many barriers that inhibit the use of modern, evidence-based practice guidelines. Limited resources impede access to reliable data collection systems. Insufficient training resources and medical supplies or equipment result in lack of support for guideline implementation, as does resistance to change on the part of care providers. Difficulty accessing up-to-date medical information and the absence of legislative support and financial incentives to implement the needed changes further hinder the process.

An ongoing emphasis of AIHA’s partnerships has been to improve clinical practice, ensuring appropriate and effective care by utilizing interventions that are both based on sound research and optimize the management of limited resources. Clinical practice guidelines are defined by the US Institute of Medicine as “systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate healthcare for specific clinical circumstances.” These guidelines have become a preeminent tool for improving quality of care and controlling expenses.

AIHA’s Web site and the EurasiaHealth Knowledge Network—our clearinghouse of medical information on health-related topics ranging from family medicine to medical informatics—offer both a repository of resources and an open forum for the discussion of protocols on topics such as infection control, women’s health, emergency medical services, neonatal resuscitation, and primary care.

Projects

AIHA’s efforts to improve clinical practice at partnership institutions are carried out through specific programmatic activities, including:

Clinical Practice Information Resources

Disseminating accurate, timely information rooted in evidence-based practices and sharing successful models and lessons learned plays an important role in AIHA’s strategy for sustainable healthcare programs. For more information about evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, please visit the following links:

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