Extending the GuideLine Implementability Appraisal (GLIA) instrument to identify problems in control flow

Clinical guidelines are usually written as text documents that are meant for human consumption. Implementing clinical guidelines as decision-support systems that deliver patient-specific advice at the point of care could increase the effectiveness of clinical guidelines. Several researchers studied the transition from narrative guidelines to computer-interpretable guidelines and have identified specific barriers to guideline implementation. GuideLine Implementability Appraisal (GLIA) is a comprehensive instrument for identifying such barriers, such that they could be revised. We used the GLIA instrument to appraise a historic thyroid nodule guideline that is now being reviewed by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Our analysis uncovered new guideline implementation barriers related to control-flow that we integrated into GLIA.