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August 1, 2017 Circulation. 2017;136:e60–e122. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000499 e62

or payer decisions, their intent is to improve patients’ quality of care and align with patients’ interests. Guidelines are intended to define practices meeting the needs of patients in most, but not all, circumstances and should not replace clinical judgment.

Clinical Implementation

Guideline-recommended management is effective only when followed by healthcare providers and patients. Adherence to recommendations can be enhanced by shared decision making between healthcare providers and patients, with patient engagement in selecting interventions based on individual values, preferences, and associated conditions and comorbidities.

Methodology and Modernization

The ACC/AHA Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines (Task Force) continuously reviews, updates, and modifies guideline methodology on the basis of published standards from organizations including the Institute of Medicine1,2 and on the basis of internal re-evaluation. Similarly, the presentation and delivery of guidelines are re-evaluated and modified on the basis of evolving technologies and other factors to facilitate optimal dissemination of information at the point of care to healthcare professionals. Given time constraints of busy healthcare providers and the need to limit text, the current guideline format delineates that each recommendation be supported by limited text (ideally, <250 words) and hyperlinks to supportive evidence summary tables. Ongoing efforts to further limit text are underway. Recognizing the importance of cost–value considerations in certain guidelines, when appropriate and feasible, an analysis of the value of a drug, device, or intervention may be performed in accordance with the ACC/AHA methodology.3 To ensure that guideline recommendations remain current, new data are reviewed on an ongoing basis, with full guideline revisions commissioned in approximately 6-year cycles. Publication of new, potentially practice-changing study results that are relevant to an existing or new drug, device, or management strategy will prompt evaluation by the Task Force, in consultation with the relevant guideline writing committee, to determine whether a focused update should be commissioned. For additional information and policies regarding guideline development, we encourage readers to consult the ACC/AHA guideline methodology manual4 and other methodology articles.5–8

Selection of Writing Committee Members

The Task Force strives to avoid bias by selecting experts from a broad array of backgrounds. Writing committee members represent different geographic regions, sexes, ethnicities, races, intellectual perspectives/biases, and scopes of clinical practice. The Task Force may also invite organizations and professional societies with related interests and expertise to participate as partners, collaborators, or endorsers.

Relationships With Industry and Other Entities

The ACC and AHA have rigorous policies and methods to ensure that guidelines are developed without bias or improper influence. The complete relationships with industry and other entities (RWI) policy can be found online. Appendix 1 of the current document lists writing committee members’ relevant RWI. For the purposes of full transparency, writing committee members’ comprehensive disclosure information is available online, as is comprehensive disclosure information for the Task Force.

Evidence Review and Evidence Review Committees

When developing recommendations, the writing committee uses evidence-based methodologies that are based on all available data.4–7 Literature searches focus on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) but also include registries, nonrandomized comparative and descriptive studies, case series, cohort studies, systematic reviews, and expert opinion. Only key references are cited. An independent evidence review committee (ERC) is commissioned when there are 1 or more questions deemed of utmost clinical importance that merit formal systematic review. This systematic review will determine which patients are most likely to benefit from a drug, device, or treatment strategy and to what degree. Criteria for commissioning an ERC and formal systematic review include: a) the absence of a current authoritative systematic review; b) the feasibility of defining the benefit and risk in a time frame consistent with the writing of a guideline; c) the relevance to a substantial number of patients; and d) the likelihood that the findings can be translated into actionable recommendations. ERC members may include methodologists, epidemiologists, healthcare providers, and biostatisticians. The recommendations developed by the writing committee on the basis of the systematic review are marked with “SR”.

Guideline-Directed Management and Therapy

The term guideline-directed management and therapy (GDMT) encompasses clinical evaluation, diagnostic

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