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Improving clinical practice

Review of 2006-2008

To improve clinical practice, it is important to promote research applied to health services and to facilitate access by professionals to the best possible scientific information. The Quality Plan has worked in both of these directions. As for the first direction, funds have been allocated to research projects pertaining to the evaluation of health care technologies through the Carlos III Health Institute and priority has been given to the development of agencies devoted to the evaluation of health care technologies. In terms of the second direction, the dissemination of scientific information has been promoted through the signing of contracts with the Cochrane Library and the Joanna Briggs Institute Library, to ensure that these two sources of information are freely accessible in Spain. Both libraries contain the best scientific information available, one for medicine and the other for nursing, and have versions in Spanish.

Another element of the effort to improve the dissemination of information has been the creation of specific tools like the Electronic News Bulletins from the NHS Quality Agency, the Agency Blog which offers news and documents and also the clinical evidence Metasearcher in Spanish and English.
Another line of activity has been to promote the preparation and use of Clinical Practice Guides associated with the Health Strategies, reinforcing and extending the Guía Salud Project and training professionals in these methodologies. So far 8 Clinical Practice Guides have been published and officially presented, and progress has been made in designing and defining other products based on scientific evidence.

Activities planned 2009-2010

The areas of work already underway will continue, evaluating and improving their impact on clinical practice and promoting citizen access to quality health information.

Improving clinical practice
-Extending and evaluating access to scientific information for decision-making in management and clinical practice.
-Promoting the preparation and use of the Clinical Practice Guide associated with the health strategies and broadening the Guía Salud Project.
-Promoting the use of IT as a tool by which to transmit health information to professionals and citizens in general.