Your plan for better healthSM1

Clinical Practice and Preventive Health Guidelines

All BCBSNC guidelines are based on the most current scientific evidence, and are adapted from standards published by nationally recognized authorities. In addition, each guideline is reviewed and approved annually by BCBSNC's Physician Advisory Group.

Click on the links below to download the guidelines in PDF format.

Preventive Care Guidelines

Preventive Care Guidelines are standards of care developed to encourage the appropriate provision of preventive services to patients, according to their age, gender, and risk-status. These services include screenings, immunizations, physical examinations, and prenatal care.

Preventive Care Guidelines

Clinical Practice Guidelines

Clinical Practice Guidelines are systematically developed statements that help practitioners make decisions about appropriate health care for specific chronic or acute clinical circumstances.

Asthma

Source: National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma

Cholesterol Management

Source: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung Blood Institute – National Cholesterol Eduation Program. Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III)

Depression

Clinical Guidelines
Source: American Psychiatric Association: Treating Major Depressive Disorder: A Quick Reference Guide
Website: www.psych.org
Tip Sheet
Source: Magellan Health Services: Assessing and Managing the Suicidal Patient
Depression Screening Tool

Asking two simple questions about mood and anhedonia may be as effective as using longer instruments.1

  1. Over the past 2 weeks, have you felt down, depressed, or hopeless?
  2. Over the past 2 weeks, have you felt little interest or pleasure in doing things?

Please refer to the website below for further information.

1Source: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Depression: Recommendations and Rationale. May 2002.

Diabetes

Source: American Diabetes Association: Clinical Practice Recommendations

Heart Failure

Evaluation and Management
Pharmacological Approaches
Website: www.hfsa.org

Hypertension

Source: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung Blood Institute - Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7)

Overweight and Obesity

Source: Source: National Institutes of Health National Heart Lung Blood Institute - The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults

Tobacco Counseling

For more information on evidence-based clinical tobacco cessation interventions, BCBSNC recommends TobaccoCME.com. TobaccoCME.com is a unique, online training program for primary care health professionals in how to provide clinical tobacco interventions. Content is evidence-based and reviewed by tobacco control experts from various medical and counseling fields and primary care physicians. Courses provide comprehensive, high quality, respected curricula that cover the range of topics related to clinical tobacco interventions. The courses function autonomously once curriculum development is complete. A case-based format is used in some courses and interactive questions are used throughout all courses to better facilitate transfer of knowledge to clinical skills. Resources include printable patient handouts, succinct clinical practice guides, related Internet links, counseling, resources, reimbursement information, reading lists, references, and ordering information for patient brochures and videos. All courses are free. Credits are available through CME, ACCME, CCME, AAFP, ACPE and NNBC. To access the website, visit www.tobaccocme.com.

Other Guidelines

Prenatal Care Guidelines
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) Guidelines (Detailed)
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) Guidelines (Summary)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Guidelines - Physician Guide
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Guidelines - Full Text