It is time for clinical guidelines to enter the digital age

Digital guidelines can be easily updated with new evidence, continuously reviewed and widely disseminated

The purpose of clinical practice guidelines is to enhance the quality of care by promoting consistent clinical decision making based on the best evidence.1 A major problem with traditional printed guidelines is that it is impossible to update them promptly enough to keep pace with rapidly emerging evidence.2 Publishing and disseminating written material and receiving feedback from stakeholders are subject to physical limitations. These limitations cause delays in implementation and the added expense of time-consuming non-automated electronic searching of bibliographic databases.