Development of guidelines for general practice care.

The setting of standards for general practice care is receiving increasing attention in many countries. However, various problems have been noted in the procedures used for the development of guidelines. In this paper, a model for developing guidelines that fit into the specific general practice situation is presented. This model attempts to integrate current experiences in this area. Ideally, the development of guidelines should take place on various levels (central, local, practice and individual), each level involving different aims and methods. Thorough procedures must be used, in which attention is paid to the scientific validity of the guidelines, the reliability of the results, the clinical applicability, and in particular, the acceptance and adoption of the guidelines in practice.