Background: The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare works with the aim to establish good and equal healthcare in Sweden. In a decentralised healthcare system national guidelines provide steering. Further information on improvement areas from a steering perspective can, however, be achieved by combining the guidelines with indicators for assessments, target-levels and an evaluation of current performance using national patient registries.
Objectives:The aim is to establish good and equal healthcare in Sweden by increased adherence to the guideline for Parkinson’s Disease.
Methods: A standardised, systematic and transparent process to develop the guideline, which includes a body of scientific evidence with prioritised recommendations, indicators with target-levels and a national assessment and evaluation was used. These processes involve patients, professionals and decision-makers in the health care system. Evaluation was done based on different nationwide patient registries together with directed questionnaires.
Results: A guideline for Parkinson’s Disease with indicators for assessment, target-levels and a nation-wide evaluation was developed and published.
Conclusions:The integrated work provides best-available knowledge on methods to use but also on current performance in a healthcare area. As such it is a very valuable tool for health care providers working with development and improvement of healthcare.