Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality launches program to compare medical treatments
The Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has launched its new Effective Health Care Program to help clinicians and patients determine which drugs and other medical treatments work best for certain health conditions.
The University of Colorado Denver is one of the 13 entities named to receive contracts as Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions about Effectiveness (DEcIDE) research centers. John F. Steiner, MD, is principal investigator.
“ There is more we must learn about what really works most effectively and safely for our patients, especially for some of the most widespread and costly health conditions,” said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt. “This new Effective Health Care Program will substantially expand our Department's capacity to develop this crucial information and convey the findings clearly so that they can be put into practice quickly.”
The $15 million program will support the development of new scientific information through research on the outcomes of health care services and therapies, including drugs.
By reviewing and synthesizing published and unpublished scientific studies, as well as identifying important issues where existing evidence is insufficient, the program will help provide clinicians and patients with better information for making treatment decisions. Initial reports from the new program will be issued this fall, with particular focus on effectiveness information relevant to Medicare beneficiaries.
The new program includes three components:
1) Comparative Effectiveness Reports - The program builds on existing network of 13 Evidence-based Practice Centers. In the new program, the EPCs will focus especially on comparing the relative effectiveness of different treatments, including drugs, as well as identifying gaps in knowledge where new research is needed. Ten studies for the new program were initiated by EPCs earlier this year, and reports will be issued over the coming months.
2) Network of Research Centers - A new network of 13 Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions about Effectiveness research centers (referred to as DEcIDE) will carry out accelerated studies, including research aimed at filling knowledge gaps about treatment effectiveness. Operating under strict procedures to guarantee privacy and security, DEcIDE centers will use de-identified data available through insurers, health plans and other partner organizations to answer questions about the use, benefits and risks of medications and other therapies. Collectively, the DEcIDE centers will have access to de-identified medical data for millions of patients, including Medicare's 42 million beneficiaries. DEcIDE centers will begin work on 15 research projects immediately.
3) Making Findings Clear for Different Audiences - A new Clinical Decisions and Communications Science Center was also announced today, to be called the Eisenberg Center in honor of the late AHRQ director, John M. Eisenberg, MD. This innovative effort is aimed at improving communication of findings to a variety of audiences, including consumers, clinicians, payers, and health care policy makers. The center will translate findings in ways appropriate for the needs of the different stakeholders. It also will conduct its own program of research into effective communication of research findings, in order to improve usability and rapid incorporation of findings into medical practice.
The new program was authorized under Section 1013 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. An initial set of 10 priority conditions of special importance for Medicare was announced last December, including ischemic heart disease, cancer, stroke, arthritis and others. Specific topics for review by EPCs were named in June, with choices based on extensive public input. A hallmark of the program will be the transparency of the data and processes used to arrive at findings.
Additional priority areas for the program will be identified next year, to include the needs of CMS' Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs, as well as Medicare. Public comments are already being solicited for the additional set of priority conditions.
Assisting AHRQ in carrying out the new program is a technical Resource Center, directed by the Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Portland, OR. The director of the center is Mark Helfand, MD.
Visit the program’s Web site at www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov.
