Developing clinical practice guidelines for the integration of Chinese medicine and biomedicine: A new process

Introduction Despite the integration of Chinese medicine and biomedicine which has emerged in clinical practice worldwide, a comprehensive development process for clinical practice guidelines (CPG) has up to now been missing. A valid method for the rational use of predictions for herb-drug interaction is a biggest challenge in guideline development process. Methods This article summarises the development process by reviewing key literature from CPG developers. It focuseson key methods and challenges specific to CPGs for integration by using text mining and bioinformatics to provide a powerful adjunct to CPG development. Results The guideline development process identified, together with new approaches, incorporates evidence-based methodology and provides better decisions through analysis of uncertain herb-drug interaction. Conclusions This new process used three basic phases (preparation, development, and finalization) and seven steps providing a set of methodological principles for CPG development intergrating Chinese medicine and biomedicine.