Liz Wagar: "Professional society–based clinical practice guidelines can be used to inform and influence hospital guidelines to promote best practices."

Elizabeth A. Wagar (2014) Credibility. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine: July 2014, Vol. 138, No. 7, pp. 873-875.

EDITORIALS

Credibility

Elizabeth A. Wagar, MD

From the Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.

"Professional society–based clinical practice guidelines can be used to inform and influence hospital guidelines to promote best practices. They also provide evidence to challenge payors' decisions regarding reimbursement decisions. The transparent and structured process is a direct means for quality improvement and can play a role in pay-for-performance reimbursement. They additionally provide pathology exposure to the larger community. For example, the recent Her2/neu update reached many national and regional media outlets, informing millions of individuals about our progress. It is important that CAP and the CAP Center be among our frontline advocates for our credibility in answering these challenges."