Putting Practice Guidelines to Work in the Department of Defense Medical System

The challenges of implementing evidence-based practice guidelines in clinical settings have been widely recognized in the health care field. This implementation guide is designed as a "how-to" resource for managers and clinicians in the Military Health System who seek practical techniques to help them integrate evidence-based practice guidelines into the medical care processes at their medical treatment facilities (MTFs). The guide will be of particular use because its content is based on both published research on clinical guideline implementation and more than two years of experience with guideline implementation during the Army Medical Department/RAND Guideline Implementation project. In this project, three regional demonstrations tested methods for implementing three different guidelines, with the participation of eleven Army MTFs. Lessons learned from the project have been incorporated into the information provided in this guide as well as in field note examples highlighted throughout the document.