.

1. Establishment of a methodological Expert Group:
a novel approach to optimizing primary care guideline revision
and development in Belgium
Jorien Laermans1,2, Vere Borra1,2, Saphia Mokrane2,3, Jan Harm Keijzer2, Sam Cordyn2,4, Nicole Dekker2,3,
Paul Van Royen2,3
1 Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, Belgian Red Cross, Mechelen, Belgium, 2 Expert Group, Working Group Development of Primary Care Guidelines, Belgium,
3 Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, 4 White Yellow Cross Flanders,
Brussels, Belgium
• The Working Group Development of Primary Care Guidelines is a Belgian consortium
responsible for the revision and development of evidence-based guidelines for primary care
practitioners
• Since its establishment in 2014, several Guideline Development Groups (GDGs) have
struggled with the labor-intensive rigorous methodological aspect of guideline development
Background & introduction
Objectives
To revise and redefine the roles and responsibilities of the different GDG members, allowing them to
focus on their methodological or content area of expertise
Methods
Expert Group: focus on methodology & preparation
Other GDG members: focus on content & practice
• So far, the Expert Group has supported 3 monodisciplinary guideline revisions and
3 multidisciplinary guideline development start-ups
• During monthly meetings, they follow up on revisions, optimize processes &
procedures and strenghten internal expertise
Conclusion & implications for guideline developers
• The methodological Expert Group seems to be a promising approach to sustaining high-quality primary
care guideline development in Belgium•
• Taking full advantage of the individual GDG members’ strengths, whether methodological or substantive,
may help guideline developers to optimize the quality and quantity of their guideline output
Working Group
Development of
Primary Care Guidelines
Expert
Group
(7 members)
GDG
guideline 1 • Helping define clinical questions
• Developing search strategies
• Screening & critically appraising
other guidelines
• Preparing GDG & stakeholder meetings
Results & discussion
• Providing feedback to the Expert Group
• Sharing content & practical expertise
• Writing the guideline
GDG
guideline 2
GDG
guideline 3