 The AHRQ organizes patient safety activities, provides grants to other organizations, serves as a clearinghouse for safety information, and publishes guidelines for evidence-based or "best practices".By 2006, the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) contained more than 1,700 disease-specific diagnosis, management and treatment recommendations, developed from current medical literature.The goal of the NGC is to provide health professionals and institutions, health plans and health care purchasers an accessible mechanism for obtaining objective clinical practice guidelines.