gms | German Medical Science

Background: The development of Swedish National guidelines began in the early 21st century. The starting point was the Swedish Parliament’s (Riksdag) decision to agreeing on a framework for prioritization in Swedish Health Care and the development of a National model for open prioritizations.

Context: It is a fact that society’s resources are insufficient to carry out all the measures required within healthcare. For this reason, decision-makers must take a standpoint as to how the resources shall be distributed within the different areas.

Description of best practice: In order to increase the systematic use of the framework for prioritization from the Riksdag, a national model for transparent prioritization has been developed. This model is used when developing National Guidelines. The purpose of the national guidelines is to support stakeholders in healthcare to make informed decisions. The prioritization model builds on the needs-solidarity principle and the cost-effectiveness principle. In the model, this means that the identified prioritization objects are appraised based on the severity of the condition, the intervention’s benefit for patients, and the intervention’s cost effectiveness.

Lessons for guideline developers, adaptors, implementers, and/or users: The aim of this presentation is to elaborate on the key aspects that made Swedish National guidelines for Health Care a well established concept with great acceptance in less than a decade. Describing the Swedish National model for open prioritization and the practical application of it to rank recommendations on a scale from one to ten.