Table 3 Risk Assessment for the Integration of Quality Assurance and Guideline Development

Group process and function for joint guideline/QA participants.

Evaluating whether accreditation based on performance measures improves patient-important outcomes.

Determining the unintended consequences of quality indicators.

Piloting quality indicators within the context of a joint guideline/QA group.

Achieving appropriate multi-stakeholder engagement for a joint guideline/QA group.

Identifying valid surrogate quality indicators that are related to patient-important outcomes.

How to consider performance measures that do not come from a specific recommendation.

Determining what the starting point is for QI development (e.g. risk that recommendations are leading).

Determining how to integrate quality indicators and evidence-to-decision frameworks.

Determining how subgroups will inform QI development in the context of a joint guideline/QA group.

Selecting the right number of QIs (not too many or few).

Distinguishing/prioritising between individual/patient and population-oriented quality indicators.

Considering the use of modelling evidence in a joint guideline/QA group.

Management of conflicts of interest relating to guideline and quality assurance development.

Conducting a prioritisation exercise for quality indicators.

Developing consensus on the criteria that should be included as monitoring and evaluation considerations in an EtD.

Developing criteria relating to when to ‘retire’ a quality indicator.