Skip to main content

  • Preferred Practice Pattern® Guidelines

    Preferred Practice Pattern® guidelines ("PPP") are designed to identify characteristics and components of quality eye care. Developed by a panel of ophthalmologists with expertise in the guideline topic, a methodologist, and other experts (the Quality of Care Secretariat and the PPP Committee) and based on the best available scientific data, PPPs provide guidance for the pattern of practice, not for the care of a particular individual. Summary Benchmarks distill relevant recommendations for care from PPPs in an easy-to-use format.

    To ensure all PPPs are current, recommendations for care are reviewed annually. Each PPP is valid for five years from the date of issue unless superseded by a revision. Authors and reviewers of PPPs are volunteers and do not receive any financial compensation for their contributions to the documents. Guidelines are developed by the Academy's H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD Center for Quality Eye Care and Academy-approved without any external financial support and are externally reviewed by experts and stakeholders before publication.

    The Academy complies with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) Code for Interactions with Companies (available at https://cmss.org/code-for-interactions-with-companies/) in developing PPPs by following the Preferred Practice Patterns and Ophthalmic Technology Assessments New Relationship with Industry Procedures.


    Preferred Practice Pattern® Clinical Questions

    Preferred Practice Pattern® (PPP) Clinical Questions are evidence-based statements that guide clinicians in providing optimal patient care. PPP Clinical Questions answer specific questions in the "Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Time frame, Study design or setting" (PICOTS) format.

    PPP Clinical Questions are developed by the Academy’s H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., M.D. Center for Quality Eye Care without any external financial support. Authors and reviewers of PPP Clinical Questions are volunteers and do not receive any financial compensation for their contributions to the documents.

    The Academy complies with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) Code for Interactions with Companies in developing PPP Clinical Questions by following the Preferred Practice Patterns and Ophthalmic Technology Assessments: New Relationship with Industry Procedures.


    Summary Benchmarks

    Do you rely on the evidence-based recommendations of the Preferred Practice Pattern® guidelines ("PPP"), but wish you could quickly locate key clinical information, perhaps during a patient visit? The Summary Benchmarks contain the most relevant information contained in the PPPs, condensed for ease of access. Guidelines and Assessments are developed by the Quality of Care Secretariat, Hoskins Center, and approved by the Academy without any external financial support. Authors and reviewers of Summary Benchmarks are volunteers and do not receive any financial compensation for their contributions to the
    documents.


    View PPP Guidelines   View Summary Benchmarks

    AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPHTHALMOLOGY and PREFERRED PRACTICE PATTERN are registered trademarks of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

    Downloading of PPPs for personal use is permitted.

    Reproduction or transmission of PPPs, in electronic or print media, is expressly prohibited without written permission of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. To request permission to reproduce or reprint PPPs or to link to this website, contact permissions@aao.org.

    For information on licensing translation rights to PPPs, contact translations@aao.org.

    Direct all other inquiries to quality@aao.org.