The role of clinical guidelines in developing quality control tools for pharmacotherapy

International experience in implementing specialized programs into clinical practice — programs that assist healthcare professionals in applying evidence-based treatment outlined in clinical guidelines (CG) — confirms the effectiveness of this approach. It demonstrates significant, sustained improvement in healthcare quality, improved treatment outcomes, and reduced adverse events. An integral part of such programs are special tools (indices, checklists, scales) that enable evaluation of treatment quality, including pharmacotherapy (PhT), and monitoring adherence to CG. Since 2018, in the Russian Federation, CG have been legally recognized as regulatory documents governing the provision of medical care. Since January 2025, a phased transition to mandatory compliance with CG provision across all levels of healthcare has been completed. Given that PhT is the most common type of medical intervention, there is an increasing need to develop and implement quality indicators for PhT. These indicators would assess alignment of prescribed treatments with CGs and must be integrated into clinical practice. The article discusses international and domestic PhT quality control tools that have been developed and tested to date. The use of these indices as independent tools for quality control systems or as part of comprehensive electronic programs for medical decision- making and self-examination of prescriptions by attending physicians seems to be a very promising area in the field of healthcare and requires further study, development, and implementation into practice.