American Academy of Dermatology guidelines of care. Development and process.

Medical practice guidelines are being developed at an accelerating pace, in all areas of medicine, for a wide range of uses. The field of practice guideline development is not new, but a number of important economic and health care issues have renewed interest in their creation. In 1987, in response to many of these issues, the American Academy of Dermatology took a leadership role and began a process designed to develop guidelines for disease entities treated by dermatologists. The result was a set of clinical practice guidelines and the most comprehensive dermatology guideline development processes to date. Herein we describe the guideline development process in its current, refined form and discuss some of its unique and important characteristics. New applications of guidelines, outside of clinical practice improvement, have made their development controversial. Nevertheless, it is important for the medical profession to lead in this effort, and the American Academy of Dermatology continues to explore ways to refine and update its guidelines to reflect the latest medical science and technology.

The future of Medicare. Their plans, your practice, Medicare reform, and how it will affect the practice of dermatology.

The future of Medicare will be determined by patient demands, government action, and physician reactions. The federal government has always had the authority to design the Medicare program, but in the past physicians have had control over its implementation. While it is impossible to accurately predict the future, past and present reform efforts shed considerable light on directions the Medicare program will take and the impact Medicare will have on the science and practice of dermatology. It is important to understand these historic trends and the changes they foster to position ourselves to avoid threats and benefit from opportunities that will arise for the science and practice of dermatology.