Developing, Implementing, and Monitoring the Use of Standard Treatment Guidelines: A SIAPS How-To Manual

STGs are designed to assist health care professionals in making decisions about appropriate, effective patient care. However, health managers often have trouble setting and meeting the high standards required of modern, developed health care systems. With stakeholders expressing concern over issues such as strength of evidence, transparency, conflicts of interest, and effective implementation, it is clear that many health care professionals need further guidance in developing and making use of STGs. This manual guides health professionals through the process of establishing and implementing STGs, placing special emphasis on the low- and middle-income country (LMIC) context. By including tools, templates, and success stories as well as hyperlinks to useful resources, the manual helps health practitioners understand not only important concepts of treatment guidelines, but also how they can best be used in practice.