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VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines HomeVA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines, Chronic Disease,Mental Health,Military Related,Pain,Rehabilitation,Women's HealthApply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines Home skip to page content Attention A T users. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. 1. Please switch auto forms mode to off. 2. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). 3. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. You will now be able to tab or arrow up or down through the submenu options to access/activate the submenu links. 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Whole Health Program Locations Hospitals & Clinics Vet Centers Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) Research Research Home About VA Research Services Programs News, Events and Media Research Topics For Veterans For Researchers Research Oversight Special Groups Caregivers Combat Veterans & their Families Readjustment Counseling (Vet Centers) War Related Illness & Injury Study Center Homeless Veterans Returning Service Members Rural Veterans Seniors & Aging Veterans Volunteers Women Veterans Careers, Job Help & Training Find a Job with VA Health Care Jobs (VA Careers) Travel Nurses Get Job Help Vets in the Workplace VA for Vets Performance Based Interviewing Clinical Trainees (Academic Affiliations) Employees & Contractors Talent Management System (TMS) VA Learning University (VALU) SimLearn Libraries (VALNET) VA Software Documentation Library (VDL) About VHA Learn about VHA Forms & Publications Quality & Safety Access and Quality Data Ethics VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines Medical Inspector Patient Safety Organizations Administrative Clinical Quick Links Enter ZIP code here Enter ZIP code here What are CPG's? They are systematiclly developed statements that assist healthcare professionals in making informed decisions about patient care. Learn more » Your opinion counts! If you have any suggestions referencing the clinical practice guidelines please send us an email and share your thoughts. Learn more » About VA/DOD CPG The Evidence-Based Practice Work Group selects topics for implementation of evidence-based... Learn more » What are CPG's? Your opinion counts! About VA/DOD CPG   VHA, in collaborations with the Department of Defense (DOD) and other leading professional organizations, has been developing clinical practice guidelines since the early 1990s. In 2010 the Institute of Medicine identified VA/DOD as leaders in clinical practice guideline development. Implementation of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines is one strategy VHA has embraced to improve care by reducing variation in practice and systematizing “best practices”. Guidelines address patient cohorts, serve to reduce errors, and provide consistent quality of care and utilization of resources throughout and between the VA and DOD health care systems. Guidelines are also cornerstones for accountability and facilitate learning and the conduct of research. The guidelines on this site are those endorsed by the VA/DOD Evidence Based Practice Work Group. Here is a link to our Department of Defense (DOD) colleagues website: Defense Health Agency (DHA) Clinical Quality Improvement Program. Guidelines What's New! CPG Resources Guidelines Clinical practice guidelines are used in health care to improve patient care as a potential solution to reduce inappropriate variations in care. Guidelines should be evidence based, incorporate patient input, as well as explicit criteria to ensure internal validity. The use of guidelines must always be in the context of a health care provider's clinical judgment in the care of a particular patient. For this reason, the guidelines may be viewed as an educational tool to provide information in shared decision making. *** Update of CPG in Progress Chronic Disease in Primary Care Asthma Chronic Insomnia Disorder and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Insomnia/OSA) The Primary Care Management of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Management of Chronic Multisymptom Illness (CMI) Chronic ObstructivePulmonary Disease (COPD) Diabetes Mellitus (DM) Lipids Hypertension (HTN) The Non-Surgical Management of Hip & Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) Obesity and Overweight (OBE) Tinnitus Tobacco Use Treatment Mental Health Bipolar Disorder (BD) Management of First-Episode Psychosis and Schizophrenia (SCZ) Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Assessment and Management of Patients at Risk for Suicide Substance Use Disorder (SUD)   Pain Headache Lower Back Pain (LBP) Use of Opioids in the Management of Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Lower Limb Amputation Management and Rehabilitation of Post-Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Stroke Rehabilitation The Management of Upper Limb Amputation Rehabilitation (ULA) Women's Health Pregnancy Retired CPG's can be found on our archive page What's New! New and Newly Updated Evidence Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) and Associated Tools Tobacco Use Treatment (2026) Lipids Management for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction (2025) Management of Adult Overweight and Obesity (2025) The Primary Care Management of Chronic Kidney Disease (2025) The Primary Care Management of Asthma (2025) The Management of Chronic Insomnia Disorder and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Insomnia/OSA) (2025) Rehabilitation of Lower Limb Amputation (2025) The VA and Department of Defense (DOD) have collaboratively developed evidence-based clinical practice guidelines since the 1990s. The CPGs provide information that is evidence-based and unbiased by conflict of interest. They are based on the best available evidence at the date of publication, and are intended to provide a general guide to best practices. These guidelines can assist healthcare providers, but the use of a CPG must always be considered as a recommendation, within the context of a provider’s clinical judgment, for the care of an individual patient. Listed below are the Updated CPG links: Tobacco Use Treatment (2026) Lipids Management for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction (2025) Management of Adult Overweight and Obesity (2025) The Primary Care Management of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) The Primary Care Management of Asthma (2025) The Management of Chronic Insomnia Disorder and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Insomnia/OSA) (2025) Rehabilitation of Lower Limb Amputation (2025) VA/DOD CPGs are recognized nationally and internationally as exemplars, and their quality speaks for itself. The Director of the Evidence-Based Practice Program, Dr. James Sall, recognizes that the tremendous dedication, time, expertise, and energy of the work group members are entirely responsible for the quality reputation of our CPGs. He sincerely thanks the Champions and Work Group members for providing our health care teams with the tools for providing Veterans optimal evidence-based care. CPG Resources Epocrates (Online Guidelines) Evidence-Based Synthesis Program Guide to US Preventive Service Task Force Pharmacy Benefits Management (VA) VHA Preventive Health The following sites provide additional information on evidence-based clinical practice: QUERI - VA/HSR&D Quality Enhancement Research Initiative - which works to improve the quality of health care for veterans by implementing research findings into routine practice ECRI Guideline Trust* is a public resource for disseminating evidence-based clinical practice guidelines MyHealthE Vet is the VA on-line personal health record that allows veterans to access their own health information as well as a wealth of patient education materials Defense Health Agency Medical Affairs/Clinical Support Division* is the world-wide contact point for clinical guidelines used by all branches of the service * Links will take you outside the VA/DOD CPG web site. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for content on the linked sites. Resources Women Veterans Create My Own Personal Health Record Patient Rights & Responsibilities Benefits Eligibility VA Forms Patient Rights & Responsibilities News and Media events CONNECT Veterans Crisis Line: Call: 988 and (Select 1) Social Media Complete Directory EMAIL UPDATES Email Address Required Button to subscribe to email VA HOME Notices Privacy Regulations Web Policies No FEAR Act Site Index USA.gov White House Inspector General QUICK LIST Apply for Benefits Apply for Health Care My HealtheVet Life Insurance Online Applications VA Forms State and Local Resources VA Plans, Budget, & Performance VA Claims Representation RESOURCES Careers at VA Employment Center Veteran Readiness & Employment Homeless Veterans Women Veterans Minority Veterans Plain Language Surviving Spouses & Dependents Adaptive Sports Program ADMINISTRATION Veterans Health Administration Veterans Benefits Administration National Cemetery Administration U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington DC 20420 Last updated January 13, 2026 Get help from Veterans Crisis Line Call 988 (Press 1) Text to 838255 Chat confidentially now Call TTY if you have hearing loss 1-800-799-4889 If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for more resources. 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