["EbM guidelines for primary care": first experience with implementation and acceptance].

A German-Austrian version of the practice recommendations "Evidence-based Medicine Guidelines for Primary Care"--an international practice guidelines project originating in Finland--was first published in print in December 2005, and has been available in electronic form since January 2007 under the title "EbM--Guidelines für Allgemeinmedizin". The collection comprises more than 1000 short evidence- and experience-based practice guidelines for general medicine, thus generating an easily and very rapidly accessible, reliable and practice-oriented knowledge base for daily use and use in consultation. Links to databases and clinical guidelines provide further effortless access to evidence-based medicine tools and should help to reduce barriers between science and practice, thus changing the culture of medical decision-making. It is conceived of as a "work in progress": international co-operation and exchange as well as an integrated user feed back tool imply continuous learning on the part of the editors' from all the countries involved. With due caution, first data can be interpreted as an indication of this concept's effectiveness. Thorough evaluation and further implementation strategies are in planning stage.