ACP: Clinical Programs - Guidelines

Clinical Information

Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee

Mission Statement

The mission of the Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee is to oversee the development of guidelines that will improve the practice of medicine. The Subcommittee will provide advice, assistance, and direction to the Education Committee and to the staff of Clinical Programs in the development and implementation of College guidelines.... The subcommittee will make recommendations: regarding appropriate clinical practices to be embodied in evidence-based guidelines; guidance on the appropriate use of these guidelines; development of new methods to enhance College guideline application to clinical practice; and identification of technology assessment issues pertinent to the College and internal medicine.

ACP has been producing clinical practice guidelines since 1981. Guideline development started as a three-year grant called the Clinical Efficacy Assessment Project (CEAP). The Project was and still is carried out under the aegis of the Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee (CEAS).

The College appoints CEAS committee members. These are internists with expertise in primary care, health care administration, and medical and health services research. The Subcommittee provides advice, assistance, and direction to the Education Committee and to the staff of Clinical Programs in the development and implementation of College guidelines. The Subcommittee makes recommendations regarding:

Clinical practices to be addressed by College guidelines;
Guidance on the appropriate use of these guidelines;
Development of new methods to enhance College guideline application to clinical practice; and
Identification of technology assessment issues pertinent to the College and internal medicine.

The scope of CEAP guidelines has broadened and covers many aspects of internal medicine, such as screening for cancers and cholesterol, and preoperative cardiac evaluation.

CEAP guidelines target internists, but they can be easily adapted for use by subspecialists, family practitioners, and other primary care providers. CEAP aims to help College members provide the best health care possible, based on the best available current evidence. Guidelines are not designed to replace clinical judgment, rather they are meant to be evidence-based tools for clinical decision making.