Cardiometabolic Guidelines Update—Finding Consensus Across Evidence-Based Recommendations

Sunday, October 16 at 2:55 PM

One of today's sessions plans to discuss the methods and evidence-based approach to guideline creation, as well as evaluating a sample of the multitude of society guidelines in the cardiometabolic space

Presented by Daniel Einhorn, MD, FACP, FACE, medical director at the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, "Cardiometabolic Guidelines Update: Finding Consensus Across Evidence-Based Recommendations" will also summarize similarities and differences among established guidelines, along with identifying principles addressed in guidelines that can be applied to daily practice.

Einhorn will also examine the "pearls and perils" of developing cardiometabolic guidelines. For instance, he says, creating such principles enables the synthesis of all the best available data, the rating of such data, and the ability to debate the merits of varied conclusions. Conversely, guidelines may be misinterpreted as "hard fact," may be subject to many personal biases, and may be misused for non-clinical agendas such as denial of treatment or cost containment, for example.

In attending this session, “the primary care physician will be confident that guideline principles make sense from a practical clinical standpoint and that there is broad consensus among all the organizations involved, even if some of the targets seem a little different," says Einhorn.

"By focusing on principles, the clinician can apply them to each unique individual patient," continues Einhorn, adding that "the point is to gain the tools to optimize what only the clinician can do - understand what’s best for their patient.

Furthermore, there is a "strong interrelation among all the guidelines in the cardiometabolic space," he says. "Knowing that a patient has any aspect of cardiometabolic disease opens the door to recognize other aspects, including issues of glucose, lipids, blood pressure, inflammation, sleep, fatty liver, and mood disorders. What is learned should be immediately applicable on the first day back in the office."

—Mark McGraw