European Renal Best Practice (ERBP) Guideline development methodology: towards the best possible guidelines.

KDIGO is a good example of a global guidelines body derived from a country initiative (KDOQI) which could give local standards of care. This body should then also spend efforts in the integration and harmonization of guidelines for related or common co-existing diseases in such a way that practice recommendations in different guidelines are complementary rather than contradictory. This approach would most likely: efficient use of expertise, time, and money; one standardized methodology; no duplication; better discussion on the common themes and on the exceptions; learning from each other; central repository for skills, training, techniques and data as well as the issued guidelines…The prime mission of European Renal Best Practice (ERBP) is to improve the outcome of patients with kidney disease in a sustainable way through enhancing the availability of the knowledge on the management of these patients in a format that stimulates its use in clinical practice in Europe. A key activity is to produce clinical practice guidelines to help clinicians make the healthcare decisions they face. To further improve the quality and validity of its clinical practice guidelines, ERBP has revised its guideline development process. The present document outlines the principles of ERBP's 10-step approach. Important features include standard procedures for selecting topics, for assembling the guideline development group, for choosing and formulating questions, for finding, appraising and summarizing the evidence, for generating recommendations, for preparing reports and organizing peer review. ERBP has adopted the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system for rating the quality of the evidence and strength of recommendations and has addressed implementation in the development process by integrating the GuideLine Implementability Appraisal tool. Ultimately, it is anticipated that these changes will not only further improve the quality of the guideline development process, but also enhance the quality of care and improve outcomes of patients with kidney disease across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]