The Program in Evidence-Based Care (PEBC) is an initiative of the Ontario provincial cancer system, Ontario Health (OH) Cancer Care Ontario (CCO), supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health. The PEBC mandate is to improve the quality of cancer care and the lives of Ontarians affected by cancer, through the development, dissemination and evaluation of evidence-based guidelines and other advice documents that are designed to facilitate clinical, planning, and policy decisions about cancer control. The PEBC is based at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and is academically linked with the Department of Oncology in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Participants
The PEBC supports a network of Guideline Development Groups (GDGs), including standing committees for specific cancers, called Disease Site Groups (DSGs), and Expert Panels that are convened to address a specific topic. All GDGs are multi-disciplinary, comprised of clinicians, other health care providers, decision-makers, and people with lived experience from across Ontario. The PEBC also works with Clinical Programs and other divisions and initiatives of OH(CCO) to identify areas where evidence-based guidance is needed.
The PEBC’s staff includes a core team of trained health research methodologists who work in partnership with the GDGs to develop evidence-based guidance on priority topics. These PEBC methodologists develop the evidence base on which guidance will be based, assist in the formulation of recommendations, and generally support the development of the PEBC documents. They are supported by the administrative, quality control, and management teams of the PEBC.
Document Development
The PEBC guideline development process is outlined in the PEBC Handbook.
The impetus to begin a new PEBC guideline project may come from an existing DSG/GDG, CCO Clinical Programs or Executive Team, Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) or other stakeholders in the Ontario cancer system. Some common criteria used to identify topics include the burden of disease, emergence of new care options, unwanted variation in clinical practice, opportunity to improve quality of care, safety or system performance, and new evidence. Every PEBC project begins with a planning process, involving the project leaders and a project Working Group who create a project plan that outlines the scope and goals of the document, the methods to be used for developing the evidence base and recommendations, the review process and expected timeline. The first draft of the guideline is completed by the working group, then reviewed by content and methods experts during the internal and external review processes. On completion of review, the finalized document is posted on the OH (CCO) website and manuscripts are prepared for journal submission.
Implementing the PEBC Development Cycle In Other Contexts
The PEBC is committed to furthering the science and practice of evidence-based guidance development both in Canada and around the world. The PEBC has a number of other tools, templates, examples, and protocols that are used by PEBC staff for training and to conduct the processes described above. While these materials are customized for our use, they may be useful to other organizations seeking to develop evidence-based guidance or implement an evidence-based guidance program, or for other purposes. We are happy to share these materials with interested parties. Please contact the PEBC, by phone at 1-905-525-9140 ext. 42822 or by email at ccopgi@mcmaster.ca, to obtain these materials, or to ask any questions you may have regarding the PEBC handbook (PDF), the PEBC methods, or any of our documents.