Practice guidelines for urinary tract infection in the era of managed care.

Acute uncomplicated cystitis among young women is very common, relatively easy to diagnose, and easy to treat with short-course antimicrobial regimens. However, there is great variability among physicians in the approaches to diagnosis and management. Cystitis, therefore, lends itself well to management by clinical practice guidelines which de-emphasize costly office visits, pre-therapy urine cultures and long courses of therapy. As cystitis guidelines continue to be developed by medical care organizations, however, it is important that they be evidence based, include the participation of practicing physicians and provide a mechanism for evaluation to ensure that quality of care and patient satisfaction are not compromised.