About Guidelines

Well-developed guidelines have the potential to improve the quality of cardiovascular care, lead to better patient outcomes, improve cost-effectiveness and highlight areas for further research. The development of guidelines has been a key activity of the CCS for over a decade and the presentation of guidelines has become an anticipated event at the annual Canadian Cardiovascular Congress.

CCS Guidelines deal with topics of clinical relevance where there is sufficient literature but where clinical practice patterns are contentious, where literature is conflicting or where the evidence is rapidly accumulating or changing. They represent the consensus of a multidisciplinary panel of topic experts with a mandate to formulate disease-specific recommendations.  The purpose is to synthesize and analyze the literature to provide evidence-based guidelines for Canadian practitioners.

CCS Position Statements (and/or Commentaries) are intended to inform practitioners and other interested parties of the opinion of the CCS concerning critical issues in cardiology/cardiovascular surgery, evolving areas of clinical practice, and/or technologies that are widely available or new to the practice community. They are evidence-based whenever possible but are more narrowly focused and more concise than guidelines.

All CCS guidelines and position statements are developed independent of third party interests. Guideline development is funded from the CCS operating budget and all guideline panel members are volunteers; no honoraria are paid.

The CCS guideline knowledge translation initiatives involve a variety of activities and resources including workshops, webinars, pocket guides, mobile device apps, educational slide decks, algorithm charts, worksheets, and calculators. CCS follows a continuous improvement model that facilitates interactive contact between Canadian practitioners and Canada’s key opinion leaders. The model accommodates end-user and stakeholder input and evaluation on an ongoing basis, allowing CCS to continually improve and expand the breadth and utility of guidelines and guideline resources. Our aim is to increase awareness and uptake of the guidelines to improve the quality of care and improve patient outcomes.

If you have questions or comments about our guidelines or resources, please email us at guidelines@ccs.ca.