At the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) 2025 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, leading experts presented findings today from a pioneering feasibility study exploring how clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can be adapted for the digital age through computable formats.
The session, titled “Adapting Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Digital Age: A Feasibility Study,” showcased innovative approaches to accelerating the translation of evidence-based medicine into clinical practice. The presentation focused on a feasibility study using the AAO-HNSF Clinical Practice Guideline on Ménière’s Disease as a test case for developing computable CPGs.
“Ultimately, what we’d really like to be able to do is integrate the concept of digitization into the guidelines as we move forward so that when the guideline is completed, not only do we have a paper guideline, but we also have a computable, executable form of it that we can then share and distribute. It doesn’t have to be seven years or 17 years or however long it is until what we have to say for people is in general practice,” said Seth R. Schwartz, MD, MPH.
AAO-HNSF Clinical Practice Guidelines are among the most downloaded and cited evidence-based articles in the field. However, the traditional evidence-to-practice time gap has long challenged health care quality improvement efforts. The featured study examined how computable CPGs—guidelines formatted for digital integration using Fast Health care Interoperability Resources (FHIR)—could significantly reduce this gap and increase guideline adoption among health care providers.
“From a day-to-day perspective, it would be nice not to have to memorize all the guidelines and to have the EMR pop up with a note that says, ‘It sounds like this patient meets the criteria for acute bacterial rhinosinusitis. Would you like to prescribe amoxicillin or augmentin?’ That would be something very helpful in day-to-day practice,” Margo K. McKenna, MD, Chair of the AAO-HNSF Guidelines Task Force.
The research team applied a recently published integrated process for computable CPG development during the guideline update process, assessed readiness using CPG-FHIR Knowledge Level Checklists, and conducted qualitative assessments through key stakeholder interviews to identify opportunities and challenges.
The session also explored future opportunities for streamlining CPG development processes using artificial intelligence, with the potential to create “living guidelines” that can be updated more dynamically as new evidence emerges.
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