Development and Implementation of National Practice Guidelines: A Prospect for Continuous Quality Improvement in Physiotherapy

Summary The development of national practice guidelines (NPGs) is an issue of much concern in healthcare policies world-wide to guarantee and to improve the quality and efficiency of care. The development and implementation of NPGs constitutes an important part of the quality of care policy of the Royal Dutch Physiotherapy Association (KNGF). This interest is due to pressure from society (policy-makers, healthcare managers, financiers and patients) on physiotherapists to ensure quality of care and to justify our position in the healthcare system. The development of NPGs can also be seen as a logical step in the process of professionalisation and quality assurance by physiotherapists. An NPG is described as a systematically developed statement, drafted by experts and directed at one aspect of the treatment of a health problem belonging to the domain of the profession. NPGs are based on the different stages of the physiotherapy care process, the available clinical evidence and expert consensus. Priority is given to a cost-effective approach and multidisciplinary consensus on diagnosis, treatment and primary or secondary prevention. Recommendations are based on the results of new or recorded systematic reviews or meta-analysis. NPGs are important state-of-the-art documents, which can guide professionals in their daily practice and make explicit to other relevant people what professionals can do in a certain situation or with a specific condition, and why they do it. NPGs have important functions, including supporting physiotherapists in their decision-making process; they are a frame of reference for orientation and educational purposes, they provide criteria for self-evaluation and peer review, and can initiate changes in established practice patterns. This paper describes the process and development of NPGs for physiotherapists in the Netherlands. In a companion paper the method and strategies for the implementation of NPGs and the need for evaluation of their outcome will be discussed.