Clinical Guideline Navigator

Clinical Practice Guideline Navigator

Search, navigate, and apply clinical practice guidelines from major professional organizations including AHA, ACC, ACP, IDSA, ADA, ACOG, and dozens more. This skill provides evidence-graded recommendations for common clinical scenarios, translating dense guideline documents into concise, actionable decision points at the point of care.

Quick Install

npx skills add Open-Medica/open-medical-skills --skill clinical-guideline-navigator

What It Does

• Multi-organization guideline search: Queries guidelines from AHA/ACC (cardiology), IDSA (infectious disease), ADA (diabetes), ACOG (obstetrics), ATS/IDSA (pulmonology), USPSTF (preventive), and other specialty societies through a unified interface
• Evidence grade surfacing: Displays the recommendation class (I, IIa, IIb, III) and level of evidence (A, B-R, B-NR, C-LD, C-EO) alongside each recommendation so clinicians can assess the strength of the underlying data
• Scenario-based retrieval: Accepts a clinical scenario description (e.g., "new diagnosis of HFrEF, EF 30%, NYHA Class III") and returns the relevant guideline recommendations without requiring the user to know which document to search
• Guideline comparison: When multiple societies have published guidelines on the same topic (e.g., hypertension management per AHA/ACC vs. ESC), highlights where recommendations converge and diverge
• Update tracking: Flags when guidelines have been superseded by newer publications or when focused updates have modified prior recommendations

Clinical Use Cases

• Hypertension treatment initiation: An internist evaluates a 52-year-old with newly diagnosed stage 1 hypertension and 10-year ASCVD risk of 12%. The skill retrieves 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines recommending pharmacotherapy for stage 1 HTN when 10-year risk exceeds 10%, and suggests thiazide diuretic, ACE inhibitor, ARB, or CCB as first-line options
• Antibiotic selection for CAP: An emergency physician admits a patient with community-acquired pneumonia. The skill pulls ATS/IDSA 2019 guidelines stratified by severity (outpatient vs. inpatient non-ICU vs. ICU) and MRSA/Pseudomonas risk factors to recommend the appropriate empiric regimen
• Diabetes management escalation: A primary care physician managing a patient whose A1C remains above target on metformin monotherapy receives guideline-concordant second-line agent recommendations from the ADA Standards of Care, stratified by comorbidities (established ASCVD, CKD, heart failure)
• Cancer screening intervals: A family physician queries age-appropriate cancer screening recommendations across USPSTF, ACS, and specialty society guidelines to build a personalized preventive care plan

Safety & Evidence

• Safety Classification: Safe — The skill surfaces published guideline recommendations without modification. It does not generate novel treatment advice or override clinical judgment. All recommendations are attributed to their source organization and publication date.
• Evidence Level: High — Content is derived directly from peer-reviewed clinical practice guidelines developed through systematic evidence review processes by recognized professional organizations. The skill preserves original evidence grading and recommendation classes.

Example Usage

Scenario-based guideline query:

Patient: 68-year-old with newly diagnosed heart failure, LVEF 25%, NYHA Class II
Currently on no cardiac medications
What does the guideline-directed medical therapy recommend?

AHA/ACC/HFSA 2022 Guideline Recommendations for HFrEF:

• ACEi/ARB/ARNI (Class I, LOE A): Initiate sacubitril/valsartan (preferred over ACEi/ARB in eligible patients) to reduce morbidity and mortality
• Beta-blocker (Class I, LOE A): Initiate carvedilol, metoprolol succinate, or bisoprolol once euvolemic
• Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (Class I, LOE A): Add spironolactone or eplerenone if eGFR >30 and K+ <5.0
• SGLT2 inhibitor (Class I, LOE A): Add dapagliflozin or empagliflozin regardless of diabetes status
• Titration: Uptitrate each agent to target dose as tolerated before adding the next pillar

Source: 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure, J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;79(17):e263-e421.

Guideline comparison:

Compare AHA/ACC and ESC recommendations for statin therapy
in primary prevention for patients aged 40-75 with LDL 130 mg/dL

AHA/ACC 2018: Calculate 10-year ASCVD risk. If 7.5-19.9% (borderline-intermediate), consider moderate-intensity statin; if >=20%, recommend high-intensity statin. Coronary artery calcium score can reclassify if uncertain (Class IIa). ESC 2021: Uses SCORE2 risk calculation. For moderate-risk patients (SCORE2 2.5-7.5% for age <50), target LDL <100 mg/dL. For high-risk patients, target LDL <70 mg/dL. Key divergence: AHA/ACC uses statin intensity categories while ESC uses LDL target-based approach. Both agree on the benefit of statin therapy in intermediate-to-high risk primary prevention.

Technical Details

• Category: Clinical Research Summarizing
• Author: OMS Contributors
• License: MIT
• Version: 1.0.0
• Specialty: All Specialties

References

• 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;79(17):e263-e421.
• 2017 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults. Hypertension. 2018;71(6):e13-e115.
• Metlay JP, et al. "Diagnosis and Treatment of Adults with Community-Acquired Pneumonia: ATS/IDSA 2019." Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019;200(7):e45-e67.
• American Diabetes Association. Standards of Care in Diabetes (current year). Diabetes Care.
• USPSTF Recommendation Statements — uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org

This skill is part of Open Medical Skills, a curated marketplace of medical AI skills maintained by physicians for physicians and the healthcare industry.