Partner Guidelines

Opioid Use Disorder

These guidelines are intended for use for all BC physicians, nursing and allied health professionals, and other care providers involved in the treatment of individuals with opioid use disorder. 

• A Guideline for the Clinical Management of Opioid Use Disorder (2023)
• Guidance for Injectable Opioid Agonist Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
• Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy
• Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder for Youth

Alcohol Use Disorder
The guideline sets out 13 recommendations that are supported by high-quality, current, and rigorously reviewed evidence. The guideline aims to bridge the significant research-to-practice gap in this field, which will, in turn, improve access to evidence-based treatment for patients and families, and reduce the significant harms associated with alcohol use in British Columbia.

• Guideline for the Clinical Management of High-Risk Drinking and Alcohol Use Disorder
• Summary of Recommendations

COVID-19

The BC Centre on Substance Use is working to respond to these dual public emergencies to help protect our communities at this very critical time. 

• Guidance: Risk Mitigation in the Context of Dual Public Health Emergencies
• Bulletin: Clinical Guidance for Prescribers and Pharmacists

Website: www.bugsanddrugs.org 

Antimicrobial resistance has become a major threat to the successful treatment of many infectious diseases. Bugs and Drugs represents an antimicrobial stewardship tool to limit the development of resistance through the judicious use of antibiotics. Recommendations made in Bugs & Drugs® are based on our experience in infectious diseases, microbiology, and pharmacotherapy; an extensive review of the literature, and consultation with multiple specialists.

Bugs & Drugs® is supported by Alberta Health Services, Alberta Health, the BC Ministry of Health, and the Do Bugs Need Drugs?® program.

Please note, the Bugs and Drugs® link will only work if IP address is from BC or Alberta.

Website:  www.childhealthbc.ca/initiatives/asthma-care-across-community-settings

Provincial Asthma Guidelines on the Initial Management of Pediatric Asthma in the Emergent/Urgent Care Settings
This provincial guideline and related tools outline the recommendations for the initial management of pediatric patients presenting to emergent/urgent care settings across B.C. with acute asthma exacerbations. The guideline provides recommended actions based on the use of the Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM).
 

• Guideline Part One: Evidence and Background
• Guideline Part Two: Practical Summary and Tools

Website: www.bccancer.bc.ca/health-professionals/networks/family-practice-oncology-network/guidelines-protocol

Sponsored by the Specialist Services Committee, one of four joint collaborative committees that represent a partnership of Doctors of BC and BC Ministry of Health.
 

• Standards of Care
• Care Guidelines:
  • Adolescent Transition from Pediatric to Adult Healthcare Services
  • CF-Related Abdominal Pain
  • CF-Related Bone Disease
  • CF-Related Diabetes
  • Challenging Cystic Fibrosis
  • Management of the Infant Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (BC Newborn Screening Program) 
  • Pulmonary Exacerbations
  • Specific to New Acquisition of Pulmonary Bacteria
  • Nutrition Management
  • Screening and Treating Depression and Anxiety and Resource List

Website: car.ca/en/standards-guidelines/guidelines.aspx

Diagnostic Imaging Referral Guidelines

• Referral Guidelines at a Glance
• Section A:  Central nervous system
• Section B:  Head and neck
• Section C:  Spine
• Section D:  Musculoskeletal system
• Section E:  Cardiovascular
• Section F:  Thoracic
• Section G:  Gastrointestinal system
• Section H:  Urological, adrenal and genitourinary systems
• Section I:  Obstetrics and gynaecology
• Section J:  Trauma
• Section K:  Cancer
• Section L:  Pediatrics
• Section M: Breast disease

Website: cfe.keltyeatingdisorders.ca/res/eating-disorders-toolkit-primary-care-practitioners-bc
 

• 2018 Eating Disorders Toolkit for Primary Care Practitioners (PCP) in BC  
  This toolkit was developed as a resource to promote recognition and prevention of medical morbidity and mortality associated with eating disorders, as well as improve patient engagement.
• This Toolkit is a condensed version of medical management information from the BC Clinical Practice Guidelines for Eating Disorders (2013) to help support your practice and feel more confident with eating disorders.  

Website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/hiv-testing-guidelines-bc.pdf

These guidelines articulate current HIV testing recommendations for British Columbia. Each component of these guidelines will be evaluated with ongoing monitoring and assessment. As with all guidelines, HIV testing recommendations will evolve over time.

Accidental Hypothermia: Evaluation, Triage and Management  ​
The objective of this guideline is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the management of accidental hypothermia in British Columbia. The use of simplified clinical staging, suggested treatment guidelines as well as triage and transportation algorithms has the potential to decrease morbidity and mortality of patients with accidental hypothermia in British Columbia.

Immunization Manual
The BC Communicable Disease Control Manual, Chapter 2: Immunization (BC Immunization Manual) provides best practice guidelines to direct the provision of immunization services.

Immunization Clinical Resources
These resources supplement the BC Immunization Manual (Chapter 2: Immunization) in the BC Communicable Disease Control Manual.

Identification and Symptom Management of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Towards Optimized Practice, based in Alberta, has produced a guideline entitled Identification and Symptom Management of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2016), which provides primary care practitioners with information and tools necessary to detect key symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and manage these symptoms over the long term in both adults and children.

Please note that there is growing evidence that graded exercise therapy (GET) is not an effective treatment for ME/CFS and may cause harm to some patients. Please see the discussion on pages 12-13 of the guideline for more information. 

This guideline is an update of the 2010 Osteoporosis Canada clinical practice guideline on the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in Canada.  The new guideline has 25 key recommendations and 10 good practice statements with emphasis on the areas of exercise, nutrition, fracture risk assessment, treatment, and interventions.
The guideline has been published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

Clinical practice guideline for management of osteoporosis and fracture prevention in Canada: 2023 update

Website: www.bc-cpc.ca/cpc/symptom-management-guidelines 

BC Inter-professional Palliative Symptom Management Guidelines

These best practice guidelines are a result of a collaboration of the following organizations: The BC Centre for Palliative Care, Fraser Health, First Nations Health Authority, Interior Health, Island Health, Providence Health, Vancouver Coastal, and Northern Health.

These guidelines are intended for inter-professional clinicians working with adults living with advanced life-limiting illness. Though these guidelines were created for adults, the symptoms may also be experienced by children with advanced illness. See additional resources within each guideline specific to pediatrics, illnesses such as cancer, and your organization / region.

Current symptoms covered in the Palliative Symptom Management Guidelines are:

• Pain
• Fatigue
• Pruritus
• Severe bleeding
• Constipation
• Nausea and vomiting
• Dysphagia
• Anorexia
• Dehydration
• Respiratory congestion
• Dyspnea
• Cough
• Hiccoughs
• Twitching / myoclonus / seizures
• Delirium
• Other symptoms

The BC Pediatric Nutrition Guidelines (Birth to Six Years) for Health Professionals

The BC Pediatric Nutrition Guidelines (Birth to Six Years) for Health Professionals are evidence-informed nutrition and feeding guidelines for healthy full-term infants and children from birth to six years of age. Health professionals can use the guidelines to provide high-quality care related to feeding and to identify potential nutrition risk. The BC Pediatric Nutrition Guidelines (Birth to Six Years) for Health Professionals were updated December 2022.

Website: Button Battery Ingestion Protocol: BC Emergency Medicine Network

While not a common occurrence, button battery ingestions can be catastrophic, leading to esophageal injury within two hours post ingestion, and should be considered a surgical emergency.

Perinatal Services BC develops evidence-based, clinical practice guidelines, standards and practice resources that include recommendations for care of the woman during pregnancy, labour/birth, and after birth for the mother and newborn in British Columbia.

• Perinatal & Newborn Health Hub

In 2012, Health Quality BC created the BC Sepsis Network to connect physicians and nurses in every emergency department in the province who could champion sepsis improvement locally. With an aim of reducing morbidity and mortality associated with sepsis, they have developed the following guidelines:

• Emergency Department Sepsis Guidelines and Algorithm (2022) 
• Inpatient Sepsis Toolkit (2022) 

The Child Health BC (CHBC) provincial guideline and accompanying toolkit  are for use with pediatric patients presenting to emergency departments (ED’s) or urgent care centers in British Columbia.

The intent of the Provincial Pediatric Sepsis Toolkit is to:  

• Provide recommendations for best practice to recognize and treat pediatric sepsis, suspected sepsis or septic shock  
• Provide clinical support tools for clinicians in Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Centers 
• Support standardized practice of pediatric sepsis care across British Columbia  
• Provide parent/caregiver materials when a child is suspected of having, or diagnosed with sepsis  

Website: www.phsa.ca/health-professionals/clinical-resources/stan-clinical-practice-guidelines

Specialist Trauma Advisory Network (STAN) is a specialist advisory and oversight network for complex trauma care across B.C. Current guidelines include:

• Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
• BC Imaging Guidelines for Major Trauma: Includes guidance on blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, and imaging for specific injuries.
• Pelvis: This clinical practice guideline outlines recommendations for the management of hemodynamically unstable adult patients (age >16) with pelvic ring injuries in B.C.
• Spleen:  This clinical practice guideline offers recommendations for the management of isolated blunt splenic trauma in adult patients in B.C.

Website: www.choosingwiselycanada.org

Choosing Wisely Canada inspires and engages health care professionals to take leadership in reducing unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures, and enables them with simple tools and resources that make it easier to choose wisely.

It does so by partnering with professional societies representing different clinical specialties (e.g., cardiology, family medicine, nursing) to come up with lists of “Things Clinicians and Patients Should Question.” These lists of recommendations identify tests and treatments commonly used in each specialty that are not supported by evidence and could expose patients to harm.

Choosing Wisely Canada also partners with a wide range of medical associations, health system as well as patient organizations to help put these recommendations into practice.

HealthLink BC provides reliable non-emergency health information and advice in British Columbia. Information and advice is available by telephone, our website, a mobile app and a collection of print resources.

www.HealthLinkBC.ca
This website provides medically-approved information on more than 5,000 health topics and symptoms. It includes interactive health tools and tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Our website is optimized for many different types of devices. You can access health information from your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.

8-1-1 Phone Line
You may call HealthLinkBC at 8-1-1 toll-free in B.C., or for the deaf and the hard of hearing, call 7-1-1. You will be connected with an English speaking health service navigator, who can provide health and health service information and connect you with:
 

• Dietitian Services: speak to a registered dietitian from 9am to 5pm Pacific Time, Monday to Friday
• Nursing Services: speak to a registered nurse any time, every day of the year for  non-emergency, confidential health education and advice
• Pharmacist Services: speak to a pharmacist from 5pm to 9am Pacific Time every day of the year
• Physical Activity Services: speak to a qualified exercise professional from 9am to 5pm Pacific Time, Monday to Friday

Translation services are available in more than 130 languages. For service in another language, say the language you want (for example say “Punjabi”), and an interpreter will join the call.

HealthLinkBC Directory
The HealthLinkBC Directory lists health and health-related services provided by the provincial government, provincial health authorities and non-profit agencies across the province. You can search for walk-in clinics, emergency rooms, hospitals, mental health programs, home care programs, pharmacy services, laboratory services and so much more.

Website: www.gov.bc.ca/lifetimeprevention

The Lifetime Prevention Schedule (LPS) looks at clinical prevention services for British Columbians. These include screening, behavioral interventions and preventive medications provided by a health-care provider, based on age and sex. The LPS reports show priorities for these services in B.C. based on each service’s clinical effectiveness, population health impact and cost effectiveness.