Shortly after its creation, AHCPR requested advice from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on how it might approach these new responsibilities for practice guidelines. The IOM agreed to appoint a study committee that would work quickly to provide technical assistance and advice on definition of terms, specification of key attributes of good guidelines, and certain aspects of planning for implementation and evaluation. This report largely confines itself to these fairly specific and limited tasks. It is not a how-to-do-it manual, a methodology text, a priority-setting exercise, or a primer on guidelines for those seeking an introduction to the subject. The report does, however, aim to encourage more standardization and consistency in guidelines development, whether such development is supported directly by the Forum or is undertaken independently by medical societies and other organizations.
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