Since 2011, the HF management recommendations have followed the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE).

The GRADE system classifies the quality of evidence as:
High - Further research very unlikely to change confidence in the estimate of effect
Moderate - Further research likely to have an important impact on confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate
Low - Further research very likely to have an important impact on confidence in the estimate of effect and likely to change the estimate
Very low - Estimate of the effect very uncertain

The GRADE system offers two grades of recommendations:
Strong - Desirable effects clearly outweigh undesirable effects or clearly do not
Weak or conditional - When trade-offs are less certain, either because of low quality evidence or because evidence suggests desirable and undesirable effects are closely balanced

Since 2012 the Committee has included Values and Preferences which complement the GRADE system of recommendations. Recommendations will not be given in areas where the evidence is felt to be inadequate.