Public demand for higher quality and lower cost, evolving pay-for-performance initiatives from payors, and the growing volume of quality “report cards” are driving health care organizations to develop evidence-based practice (EBP) guidelines. Hospitals will be expected to provide the infrastructure and resources needed to support these care processes. Published best practices for implementing EBPs are rooted in organizational and behavioral change theories. Some provide a framework for implementation but lack specific steps to be followed. Others provide process detail, but their focus is too narrow to address the breadth of interdisciplinary care for defined populations. The Saint Vincent Guide for Evidence-Based Practice Implementation is a 4-phase, “fill-in-the-blank” template, road map, and time line for creating interdisciplinary, diagnosis-specific, evidence-based practices to “hard wire” the care delivery process. It is a result of our experiences with and a literature review of EBP implementation best practices that, taken together, substantiate the steps prescribed by the Guide. (Am J Med Qual 2007;22:148-163)
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