The ECRI Institute says it will continue to provide a medical guideline website, even as the US discontinues its funding of the National Guideline Clearinghouse website.
The National Guideline Clearinghouse was created in 1998 by the US Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality along with the American Medical Association and the American Association of Health Plans, now known as America's Health Insurance Plans, CNN adds. The clearinghouse provides a repository of vetted evidence-based guidelines for the medical field.
But due to budget cuts, the site was to go dark Monday.
"Guideline.gov was our go-to source, and there is nothing else like it in the world," Oregon Health & Science University's Valerie King tells the Daily Beast.
But the nonprofit ECRI Institute, which was a contractor for the clearinghouse, says in a press release that it will continue to provide guidelines to the community. It is to launch its interim website of clinical practice guidelines in the fall. Eventually, it plans to also offer more advanced search capabilities and decision-making support.
"Not all guidelines are created equal. Clinicians want to know what stands behind a particular recommendation, and whether they can trust that recommendation," says Jane Jue, the ECRI Institute medical director, in a statement. "Trustworthy guidance is the real value that we will be providing."