Guiding principles for evaluating tertiary health care resources: The A₂C₂QUIRE framework

Abstract

Introduction Drug information, medical, and other resources, in the form of textbooks, online databases, and mobile applications (apps), are commonly consulted by health care professionals when providing answers to drug information questions or researching information prior to making recommendations for patient care. Thus, there is a need to train health care professionals on how to identify high‐quality resources to ensure patient safety and improve patient care. Given the variety of different resource types available in contemporary health care settings, a framework that can be universally applied to a variety of different resources is needed. Objective The primary objective of this paper is to introduce health care professionals to a unified framework for evaluating all types of tertiary health care resources that takes into account practical and contemporary considerations. The A2C2QUIRE framework centers around three main tenets: quality, functionality, and practical considerations, and specifically addresses the following components: Authorship and publisher, Accessibility, Currency of information, Cost and value of materials, Quality of content, Usability and resource design, Intent of the resource, Review process, and Endorsements. Conclusion The foundational concepts reviewed in this paper provide health care professionals with a unified framework for assessing the quality of various types of resources, while also incorporating practical and contemporary considerations.

Medical misinformation: A primer and recommendations for pharmacists

“…HCPs should ensure tertiary references are authentic, high‐quality resources. Helpful guiding principles for evaluating tertiary resources such as online textbooks and databases, as well as mobile applications, have been described by using a framework called A 2 C 2 QUIRE (Authorship and publisher, Accessibility, Currency of information, Cost and value of materials, Quality of content, Usability and resource design, Intent of the resource, Review process, and Endorsements) 48 . The A 2 C 2 QUIRE checklist includes the following: author and publisher qualifications with any conflicts of interest, ease of accessibility, cost and value, quality of content, usability of content, intent of the resource, content review process, and clear and transparent advertising and endorsement policies.…”