Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) provides evidence-based information on the outcomes and quality of healthcare. Information from AHRQ's research helps healthcare decisionmakers - patients and clinicians, health system leaders, purchasers, and policymakers - make more informed decisions and improve the quality of healthcare services. AHRQ was formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). [>]

Evidence reports of different topics:

The Evidence-based Practice Program of the AHRQ aims to synthesise scientific evidence to improve quality and effectiveness in clinical care. Scientific literature on different clinical care topics is reviewed and evidence reports and technology assessments are produced. Public and private sector organisations may use the reports and assessments as the basis for their own clinical guidelines and other quality improvement activities.All the summaries of the evidence reports, and mostly also the full report, can be consulted free of charge. [>]

Clinical practice guidelines on different topics:

Agency-supported clinical practice guidelines can be selected on the following topics: acute pain management - Alzheimer's disease - benign prostatic hyperplasia - cancer pain - cardiac rehabilitation - cataract - depression - heart failure - low back problems - mammography - otitis media - post-stroke rehabilitation - pressure ulcers - sickle cell disease - smoking cessation - unstable angina - urinary incontinence. Clinical practice guidelines sponsored by the AHRQ can be downloaded for free. [>]

National Guideline Clearinghouse

The National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC) is a publicly available comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents with syntheses and comparisons. Updated weekly with new content, the NGC is produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in partnership with the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP)Foundation.

The International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH)

The International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) is a unique project that brings together the regulatory authorities of Europe, Japan and the United States and experts from the pharmaceutical industry in the three regions to discuss scientific and technical aspects of product registration. The purpose is to make recommendations on ways to achieve greater harmonisation in the interpretation and application of technical guidelines and requirements for product registration in order to reduce or obviate the need to duplicate the testing carried out during the research and development of new medicines.

Guidelines relating to clinical studies in human subjects are listed under "E=Efficacy Topics". [>]