HSLS Collaboration to Improve the Outcomes of Infectious Diseases

Community-spread Staphylococcus infections, the overuse of antibiotics, and other microbial threats to health all make the topic of infectious diseases (ID) important both nationally and globally. One organization promulgating practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions is the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) located in Arlington, Virginia.

Recently, IDSA selected HSLS for literature search assistance to meet the ever increasing standards in guideline development [IOM, GRADE, PRISMA] and to ensure a comprehensive systematic search for the evidence to support each of their guidelines.

Two HSLS librarians, Charlie Wessel and Michele Klein-Fedyshin, work closely with IDSA and their guideline panels to design the search strategies, conduct the literature searches that reinforce their guidelines’ recommendations, and deliver search results to panel committee members throughout North America.

During a recent meeting with the IDSA Standards and Practice Guidelines staff in Arlington, Klein-Fedyshin and Wessel developed several documents to enhance the efficiency of the literature review process for guideline development. IDSA, along with both librarians’ input, formulated a Literature Search Process algorithm, while the librarians also contributed a Guideline Elements Form and a PICO Elements Form to help define the guideline and individual associated clinical questions in a format suitable for searching. This mutually beneficial collaboration is an ongoing project demonstrating how an interdisciplinary team involving medical librarians can advance knowledge translation.

~ Michele Klein-Fedyshin and Charlie Wessel