Jul-Aug 1999 Table of Contents

Letters

Guidelines and flowcharts

Fam Pract Manag. 1999 Jul-Aug;6(7):9.

To the Editor:

As a family practice educator with an interest in clinical guidelines — used both as teaching tools and in clinical settings — I enjoyed the guidelines article [“Where to Look for Good Clinical Policies,” February 1999]. I would suggest using graphic-based information, such as flowcharts, algorithms and process maps, to communicate guidelines. They help to prioritize questions, portray knowledge in a more orderly fashion and force users to confront the tough issues that guidelines can raise.

The World Wide Web, in particular, has reinforced the value of a graphically based, point-and-click approach to gaining knowledge. Clinical guidelines should incorporate this approach.

Copyright © 1999 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact fpmserv@aafp.org for copyright questions and/or permission requests.