Clinical
Guidance

AACE makes every attempt to maintain the currency of its clinical practice guidelines to ensure they remain pertinent regarding newly published literature, practice variation, scientific advancement, controversy, or patient benefits and harms. The AACE Clinical Practice Guidelines Oversight Committee and AACE leadership approve guideline updates, depending on the topic, changes in practice, and new evidence that could impact recommendations. The AACE Clinical Practice Guidelines Oversight Committee determines the prioritization and timeline for updates of guidelines. Any updated AACE guideline will require de novo development until it adheres to the GRADE approach.

AACE clinical guidance documents include a 5-year review date as a guide to determine validity, update, or retirement. AACE considers retirement of a clinical guidance document when:

• An update is published
• AACE co-sponsors and/or endorses a more up-to-date guidance document developed by another organization on the same or similar topic
• Content is obsolete or language is inappropriate or outdated
• Guidance is determined to be harmful or not beneficial based on recent evidence
• No longer aligns with the mission of the Association

Retired documents will be added to the list of archived guidance documents on the AACE website: https://pro.aace.com/clinical-guidance/archived-guidance-documents.

AACE consensus statements provide expert guidance developed by subject matter experts and represent the mission and position of AACE on specific and timely topics in clinical endocrinology. While consensus statements are based on evidence and follow a consistent process, they do not require systematic appraisal of evidence and follow a less formal development process than AACE clinical practice guidelines. Clinical algorithms are a type of consensus statement that provide visual guidance to support clinical decision-making at the point of care.

In addition to consensus statements, AACE also develops clinical practice guidelines.

AACE members may submit topic nominations at any time; however, they will be reviewed by the Clinical Practice Guidelines Oversight Committee twice annually. The following criteria are considered during selection of topics:

• Relevance to AACE membership
• Potential to change or improve clinical practice
• Availability of evidence and/or existing well-done current guidance that aligns with AACE positions

The Clinical Practice Guidelines Oversight Committee determines priority of development according to relevancy to AACE members, organizational priorities, projects in queue, and available resources. Please see the topic nomination webpage for additional information.

Any AACE member in good standing who meets the chair/author qualifications may apply to serve on an AACE task force during a call for authors for a specific guidance document. Clinical guidance document task forces are multidisciplinary groups comprised of subject matter experts and may include a methodology fellow and staff methodologist. Participation of non-AACE members on an AACE task force can occur when expertise to develop a section of a clinical guidance document exists outside AACE membership and inclusion of experts from specific specialties are needed to provide multidisciplinary perspective and enhance the knowledge base for a topic. Additionally, AACE strives to consider patient preferences and values in addition to equity and access to care. As such, input from patient(s) or patient representatives may be obtained through review of the document, patient summary, or by inclusion as a member of the task force.

The Clinical Practice Guidelines Oversight Committee, Conflicts of Interest Subcommittee, and assigned Empanelment Workgroup conduct a formal review of applications and disclosures in compliance with policies and protocol for AACE guidance documents, Conflicts of Interest (COI) Policy, and commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to nominate potential task force authors. Empanelment workgroups receive training on decreasing bias in selection of applicants and are encouraged to rate all candidates impartially, considering objective skills and abilities. The AACE president provides final approval of authors who serve on guidance document task forces. It is AACE's goal to reflect the AACE community in task forces with increased participation across demographics, career level, work setting, and profession to ensure equitable access to opportunities at AACE and to engage multiple perspectives to better serve our patients.

If you are interested in serving as an author or chair of a future AACE clinical guidance document, be on the lookout for calls for authors in the AACE weekly email, on the AACE website, at conferences, and on social media. There will be a link in the call for authors to submit your application and disclosure for consideration.

Chairs and authors of clinical practice guidelines who accept their appointment must commit to full participation in development during at least a 1- to 2-year timeline. Chairs and authors of consensus statements who accept their appointment must commit to full participation in the development process which may span 1 to 2 years or longer depending on scope of the document.

For more information about author and chair qualifications and policies related to empanelment:

• Chair and Author Qualifications Policy
• Conflicts of Interest Policy
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

AACE values the expertise and experience of clinicians and other health care professionals in development of AACE clinical guidance documents. As such, nominated authors must be AACE members in good standing and ideally have experience or training in epidemiology, clinical trials, and/or evidence-based medicine. Additional information regarding required chair and author qualifications can be found here.

AACE requires all individuals who develop, review, and approve AACE clinical guidance documents to comply with the AACE Conflicts of Interest Policy, disclose any financial, intellectual, organizational, or other relationships for the preceding 24 months, and verify accuracy of current disclosures. Disclosures are reviewed for conflicts by the AACE Conflicts of Interest Subcommittee and AACE Clinical Practice Guidelines Oversight Committee which determine manageability of disclosures. Authors should not take on new activities/relationships during development of an AACE guidance document.

We at AACE are committed to embracing diversity. We believe that inclusion, representation, and access to opportunities for all make our global community stronger and better. We will ensure a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion across AACE’s membership, leadership, governance, and educational activities, as well as the community at large. We are working to foster a welcoming environment that allows everyone in the AACE community to contribute, innovate, and thrive. Together, we are elevating clinical endocrinology to improve global health. Together, we are AACE.

Requests for permission to reproduce or reuse content from AACE clinical guidance documents are handled through Elsevier, the publisher for Endocrine Practice.

1. Search and locate the content you wish to reuse on www.endocrinepractice.org. No subscription? You can still search and view the basic manuscript information.
2. Click on © Request link when you pull up the manuscript, located in the right-hand corner.
3. This will bring up the RightsLink page (turn off your pop-up blocker).

For questions about using the RightsLink service, please contact Customer Support via phone 877/622-5543 (toll free) or 978/777-9929, or email [email protected].

AACE provides all financial support for development or update of its clinical guidance documents and does not accept industry funding in any form for their production. Moreover, AACE does not allow any entity (including industry and government) with a financial interest in health care delivery to influence the objectivity of AACE clinical guidance documents.

AACE welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with other medical specialty societies and related organizations to develop clinical guidance documents. AACE defines co-sponsorship as the development of a clinical guidance document by a lead organization, with full participation of a representative(s) of one or more collaborating organizations, and endorsement as the official approval of a clinical guidance document with or without co-sponsorship to imply general agreement with its recommendations and content.

The AACE Clinical Practice Guidelines Oversight Committee and AACE Executive Committee review and approve all requests for co-sponsorship and endorsement.

Co-sponsorship or endorsement of an external clinical guidance document may be preferable to developing an independent AACE clinical guidance document to:

• Harmonize recommendations or practice points and reduce conflicting or duplicative guidance among relevant organizations
• Increase credibility, acceptance, and adoption of a clinical guidance document across multiple specialties
• Provide clinical guidance that might not be feasible otherwise due to the resource-intensive nature of development
• Provide valuable ancillary knowledge to improve the care of patients

If you are interested in collaborating with AACE, please email [email protected] with your specific request.

AACE requests a minimum of 8 weeks for decision to endorse a manuscript (including co-sponsored documents with an external organization as lead).