GIN Glasgow 2023 Summary

Between the 19th and 22nd of September Evidence Prime attended the 18th annual GIN Conference 2023 in Glasgow.

The main themes of the Guidelines International Network conference included 

• Collaboration within and between guidelines
• Automation to support guideline development
• Involving stakeholders in the guideline development process.

On the first day, the matter of collaboration within and between organizations was discussed. Evidence Prime strongly supports this view and engages in various multi-organizational efforts, such as the eCovid RecMap initiative. The map is the gateway to contextualization, allowing different groups to request access to existing recommendations in GRADEpro software to perform an adaptation process. One such group is Miloslav Klugar’s team from Masaryk University. They adapted a number of guidelines for the Czech Republic. They also presented part of those efforts during the GIN conference.

Another vital topic was automation & technology in support of guideline development. Both Laser AI and GRADEpro offer tools that automate or facilitate systematic reviews and guideline development. We also held an interactive workshop, during which we presented our latest idea - RecChat, a conversational AI. In the future, it could assist with searching through robust databases. As an example, we used eCovid RecMap with almost 10 thousand recommendations.

On the last day, the plenary session revolved around stakeholder engagement, both during the guideline development and by adjusting dissemination forms to reach all interest groups. Those discussions included Decision Aids and Plain Language Recommendations - both tools available for GRADEpro users to present their findings in an interactive and visually appealing manner. Moreover, there was a discussion on barriers that public representatives encounter when trying to engage in guideline development. Such issues can be addressed with PanelVoice, which offers an easy and user-intuitive way of providing feedback during guideline discussions

Dr. Wojtek Wiercioch, a renowned methodologist who provides us with domain support and advice, was presented with the prestigious Najoua Mlika-Cabanne award for his significant contribution to advancing the science of guideline development. We couldn’t be more proud! Wojtek gave a few presentations during the conference itself, including one on decision thresholds - the latest framework for quantifying intervention effects in order to facilitate the panel’s discussion.

In conclusion, Evidence Prime's participation in the 18th annual GIN conference 2023 demonstrated their dedication to advancing the field of guideline development. The conference's themes of collaboration, automation, and stakeholder engagement align closely with Evidence Prime's values and initiatives. Their support for collaborative efforts, innovative automation tools like RecChat, and commitment to user-friendly solutions like PanelVoice showcase their commitment to excellence.