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.

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