Online Medical Reference System (OMRS)

Standards and Guidelines

If you already know the name of the standard or guideline you are looking for, try doing a title search on the catalog first. If you can't find what you are looking for on the catalog or you are not sure of the actual title of a guideline, there are some reference books that may help you. The following books contain standards and guidelines from various organizations. It is always a good idea to look in the front of any book for information explaining the contents of a book or for instructions on its use. Many professional associations include their current guidelines, standards, position papers, etc. in their journals. For current journal articles on standards and guidelines, search your topic in a print index, a computer database, or request an intermediated search. The Medicolegal Information section of this system may also be helpful in finding standards and guidelines.

AHCPR Supported Guidelines-Online Version

Produced by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, this site is most easily accessed through Health Services/Technology Assessment Text (HSTAT). Some Spanish language information is available at this site.

Clinical Practice Guidelines

This 1994 edition of the guidelines approved by the American College of Physicians contains the ACP's Clinical Efficacy Assessment Project guidelines published through 1993. The book is divided into the following sections: allergy and immunology, cardiology, endocrinology/metabolism, gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, nephrology, neurology and pulmonary disease.

Reference
W
84
.AA1
C546
1995

Code of Medical Ethics: Current Opinions with Annotations

Published by the American Medical Association, this volume contains the Current Opinions with Annotations of the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, the Principles of Medical Ethics and the Fundamental Elements of the Patient-Physician Relationship. The Principles of Medical Ethics are the primary component of the Code. The Current Opinions with Annotations reflects the application of the Principles of Medical Ethics to more than 125 specific ethical issues in medicine.

Reference
W
50
A531c
2004-2005

Directory of Clinical Practice Guidelines

This directory, produced by the AMA, lists approximately 1900 guidelines developed by over 80 physician organizations and other groups.  Information includes the book or journal in which the clinical practice guideline was published, and cost information for obtaining a copy of the clinical practice guidelines.

Reference
W
22.1
D597p
2000

Directory of Practice Parameters

Published by the American Medical Association. Practice parameters are strategies for patient management, developed to assist patients, physicians, and other health care professionals in clinical decision-making. The AMA has maintained a practice parameters database since 1989 from which this directory is published. Current practice parameters are listed in the directory by subject, sponsoring organization and alphabetically.

Reference
W
84
.AA1
D5
1994

Disability Evaluation under Social Security

This guide is published to keep physicians and other health professionals up to date with the changes in the disability program (title II of the Social Security Act) and the supplemental security income program (title XVI of the Social Security Act). It contains a listing of medical impairments which are considered severe enough to prevent a person from doing any gainful activity.

Reference
W
925
U585d
1986

Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Fifth Edition

Published by the American Medical Association under the auspices of the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs. This is a guide to estimating the degree of long-standing or permanent impairments, which are defined as adverse conditions that are stable and unlikely to change.

Reference
W
925
G946
2001

Handbook of Assessment in Clinical Gerontology

Published by John Wiley & Sons (part of the Wiley Series on Adulthood and Aging), this volume contains a variety of assessment tools for "cognitive functioning, mental health, and ability to engage in self-care."

Reference
WT
150
H2336
1999

Healthcare Standards: Official Directory

This is an easy-to-use guide to hard-to-find healthcare standards, practice guidelines, and other official documents. Its scope is broad, including standards issued by medical societies, professional associations, government agencies (both federal and state), and other health-related organizations. The directory contains complete citations to standards, legislation and referenced articles. Entries may be looked up either by keyword or by organization. This directory is published annually.

Reference
W
22
.AA1
H434

JCAHO-Accreditation Manual for Ambulatory Health Care

Published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. This volume is designed for use in self-assessment by ambulatory care organizations. It is the basis for the survey report form which Joint Commission surveyors use to record their on-site survey findings. Be sure to read the section on using the manual.

Reference
WX
205
J66a

JCAHO - Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (CAMH)

Published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Updated quarterly; formerly known as "Accreditation manual for hospitals".

Reserve
WX 15 
.AA1 
J74c
1996-

JCAHO-Long Term Care Standards Manual

Published by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. This volume is designed for use in an organization's self-assessment. It is the basis for the survey report form which Joint Commission surveyors use to record their on-site survey findings. Be sure to read the section on using the manual.

Reference
WX
15
J668L
1990

National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not for profit, tax-exempt corporation that is an alliance of cancer centers. Preliminary guidelines for specific treatment areas are unveiled at the NCCN Annual Conference in March. Proceedings of the conference along with the preliminary guidelines are then published in the November issue of the journal ONCOLOGY. 

National Guideline Clearinghouse

The National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) is a comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents produced by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), in partnership with the
American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP). You can browse the guideline collection by disease/condition, by treatment/intervention, or by the name of the submitting organization.  Guidelines are abstracted into a standardized format which allows for a quick comparison of guidelines.

Patient Care Standards: Collaborative Planning and Nursing Interventions

The purpose of this book is to guide "nurses in implementing the nursing process using nursing diagnoses" and to provide "a tool to evaluate the outcome of patient care". North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) nursing diagnoses are included in the first chapter. Body systems and the related standards are presented in subsequent chapters. Most standards include the following components: Title, Definition, Assessment (observation/findings, laboratory/diagnostic studies, potential complications), Medical Management, Nursing diagnoses/interventions/evaluation, and Expected outcome/evaluation. Published by Mosby Year-Book.

WY 100
P297
2000

Policy Compendium: Current policies of the American Medical Association

The Compendium contains only permanent policies adopted by the AMA House of Delegates. The policies are not intended to be construed or to serve as standards of medical care.  Online, use the AMA Policy Finder.

Reference
WB
1
.AA1
A53p
1995

Standards of Nursing Care: A Model for Clinical Practice

The purpose of this book is to describe a Clinical Practice Model (CPM) designed to support the practitioner in delivering quality, cost-effective professional services in the institutional setting. Appendix A includes interdependent standards and nursing interventions for various diagnoses. Appendix B focuses on independent standards of care and nursing diagnoses. Bibliographies of relevant nursing subjects are included in Appendix D.

Reference
WY 100
W514s
1990

Searching print indexes for journal articles

The best indexes for articles on standards are Hospital and health administration index (this used to be Hospital literature index) and Index Medicus. You may want to also look at the other indexes the library subscribes to. When you have selected an index, look in its list of subject headings for the topic you are interested in finding standards or guidelines on. If there is a subject heading for your topic, then look in the subject section of the index under that heading. Next, look for the standards subheading under that subject heading. The print indexes index more journals than the library subscribes to. When you find an article you want, be sure to check the online catalog to be sure the library has the journal.

Searching computer databases for journal articles

These instructions are for use with the Ovid search interface. The best databases for articles on standards are CINAHL and MEDLINE. Use the database search tool to find the topic you are interested in finding standards or guidelines on and select the "standards" subheading.   If you retrieve too many citations, use the limit button to narrow your search by language, publication year, review article, human, etc. The databases index more journals than the library subscribes to. When you find an article you want, be sure to check whether or not the library subscribes to that journal.