Supporting quality improvement in the development of medical guidelines in Austria

Purpose - Until today a central register for medical guidelines has not been established in Austria. Hence, the study at hand aims to identify important success factors for medical guidelines in Austria in order to fully support the future activities of organisations developing these guidelines. Design/methodology/approach - Using a specially-developed questionnaire, 137 potential Austrian guideline developers were asked about the anticipated benefits of a common guideline register and a standardised method for guideline development by means of a complete inventory count for Austria. Findings - Approximately 73 per cent of Austrian guideline developers know of existing online guideline registers. Nearly 77 per cent know neither of an instrument to evaluate the guidelines in a methodical way, nor of the Council of Europe's recommendation. Around 63 per cent expect an improvement in the quality of the guidelines by implementing a standardised method. Research limitations/ implications - The present study provides the results of the first complete inventory count of guideline developers in Austria and can be used as an orientation for future activities. Practical implications - The realisation of the success factors would increase the quality of national guidelines and would boost the implementation of best practices such as evidence-based-medicine into the Austrian health care system. Originality/value - The study shows for the first time the necessity of support in order to improve the quality of Austrian guidelines from the point of view of potential developers. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.