From mummified guidelines to living evidence-based medicine: three essential tools.

On a tour of the WHO headquarters in Geneva, I wandered past a vast cellar of shrinkwrapped, unused and unread guidelines. These guidelines were rapidly passing, or already past, their “use by” date given that around 7% of clinical “facts” become outdated each year [1]. Although glossy journals, 500page systematic reviews and grand guidelines are all worthy, clinical impact occurs only when someone reads, digests and acts on the information.