Clinical Practice Guidelines

Clinical practice guidelines (CPG) are systematically developed statements to assist practitioners and patients reach appropriate health care decisions. Their purpose is "to make explicit recommendations with a definite intent to influence what clinicians do". If developed properly, CPG assimilate and translate the abundance of evidence published on a daily basis into practice guidelines or recommendations. In doing so, CPGs aim to reduce the use of unnecessary or harmful interventions, and facilitate the treatment of patients to achieve maximum benefit and minimum risk at an acceptable cost. CPGs are not meant to replace sound medical decision making which takes into account critical elements relevant to patient care including patient preferences and clinician experience.

The major purpose of the CPG Committee of the CSN is to develop CPGs or Clinical Practice Recommendations for CSN members. The overriding goal is to improve the delivery of health care to kidney disease patients in Canada.

A. Membership

Chair: The Chair is a member of the CSN Council, appointed by the President, on recommendation of the previous CPG Committee Chair and other members of the CSN Executive, for a 4 year term. The Chair may serve for no more than 2 consecutive terms. On behalf of the CPG Committee, the Chair will be in close communication with the CSN President and / or other Executive members throughout the year. The Chair will present an annual report to the President at the annual CSN Council meeting and the Annual General Meeting.

Membership: Chairs of active CPG subcommittees, the past Chair of the CPG Committee, the current Chair of the Guideline Implementation Committee, and the President of the CSN will automatically become members of the CPG Committee. In addition, the Kidney Foundation of Canada will be asked to appoint a representative to this Committee. The Kidney Foundation of Canada member may not serve for more than 4 consecutive years.

B. Responsibilities

CHAIR

• The Chair will report to the CSN Executive, through the President.
• The Chair will prepare an annual report for presentation to the CSN Council and the CSN membership at the Annual General Meeting.
• The Chair will prepare progress reports for publication within CSN newsletters as requested by the CSN President.
• The Chair will organize an annual meeting of the CPG Committee. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the progress of active CPG subcommittees and discuss the plan for future CPG topics or updates.
• Together with the CSN President and the past Chair of the CPG Committee, the Chair will decide if an established CPG requires updating or if a new CPG topic requires development. Together with the CSN President and the past Chair of the CPG Committee, the Chair will also choose the individual(s) to Chair each new CPG subcommittee.
• Together with the Chair of each CPG subcommittee, the Chair will choose members to populate the CPG subcommittees. Individuals will be considered based upon prior CPG work, topic expertise, an ability to assess and grade clinical evidence, and geographic representation. Although it is not a prerequisite for committee membership, subcommittee members will be encouraged to limit conflict of interest during the CPG development process. When desirable and feasible, non-CSN members, such as relevant non-industry stakeholders, may be asked to participate in the CPG subcommittee.
• The Chair will work with the CPG subcommittee Chair to facilitate CPG development and to ensure that appropriate timelines are met.
• The Chair will be asked to disclose any potential conflicts of interest relevant to the development of CPGs. The Chair will be encouraged to limit any potential conflicts of interest.
• The Chair may be asked to represent the CSN on either the Board of Directors or ad hoc committees of the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) group. If this occurs, the Chair will be responsible for communicating to the CSN President any KDIGO activities relevant to the CSN.

MEMBERS

• The Members will report to the Chair.
• All Members will be asked to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
• The CPG subcommittee Chair(s) will interact with the Chair on an ongoing basis to ensure an efficient CPG development process.
• The Kidney Foundation of Canada member will be asked to provide input on all activities of the CPG Committee

C. Funding

The CPG Committee must not have any direct responsibility for fund-raising to support CPG development. The CSN Executive will be responsible for securing funds to allow the CPG committee to perform their responsibilities.