Monthly archive
- June 2009 (2)
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Blogroll
Case Studies
An NIH study of treatments for high blood pressure, called the ALLHAT trial, shows some of the strengths and limitations of comparative effectiveness research to improve patient care. More...
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Tony Coelho's blog
Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute will help find health care outcomes that WAPO op-ed writers seek
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:06 | Posted in:On Saturday, May 22, The Washington Post published my letter to the editor on the opportunity we have in CER to answer the full range of questions that are important to improving patient care and health care quality. The letter responded to a commentary from physicians Jim Yong Kim and James N. Weinstein, who called for a research program to help us learn about what works best in health care delivery and patient management.
This is just one of the important strengths of the comparative effectiveness research (CER) provisions of the healthcare reform law.
Oncologist believes CER can’t ‘keep pace with advances in medicine’—shouldn’t get between doctor and patient
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Thu, 04/08/2010 - 19:04 | Posted in:A recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Dr. Leonard Zwelling, illustrates why treatment decisions must stay between a patient and their doctor and reinforces the importance of the comparative effectiveness research (CER) language included in the recently passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Zwelling, an oncologist, explains the challenges of using CER to set rigid national policy requirements. He highlights how cancer care is continually evolving in that it allows doctors to better address the individual needs of cancer patients whose bodies react to their forms of cancers in different ways than those of other patients:
Researcher knows common flaws in CER studies, dangers of result's misuse
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 23:13 | Posted in:A recent article by Jerome Groopman, M.D, provides some valuable, first-hand insight as to what can go wrong when policy makers “give teeth” to comparative effectiveness research (CER) studies by translating results into “best practices.” Groopman’s understanding of the limitations of CER and the complexities of delivery high quality care to each patient, lead him to caution against blunt application of CER in ways that do not give physicians the ability to deviat
New USPSTF guidelines underscore need for patient-centered CER
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 07:18 | Posted in:A few days ago, I posted about what I saw as one of the key lessons from the controversy over the new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF) mammography guidelines, namely, that expert panels can sometimes come to different conclusions based on the same evidence.
PIPC urges inclusion of Senate CER provision in final reform legislation
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 18:24 | Posted in:Agree or disagree with the recent changes to mammography guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), one thing is clear – two sets of highly qualified experts can come to very different conclusions when looking at the same evidence. This holds big implications for provisions of health care reform like comparative effectiveness research (CER).
What did the House do for CER?
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 21:00 | Posted in:The House of Representatives passed their health reform package - the Affordable Health Care for America Act - last Saturday night by a vote of 220 to 215. With all of the provisions packed into the 2,000-page bill, what's in this historic legislation for comparative effectiveness research (CER)?
Senate's consideration of CER must promote research integrity, patient focus
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 06:40 | Posted in:As the health reform debate continues to the Senate, it’s important to keep the focus on the patient. This is one of the points highlighted in Politico’s health care issue last week.
Health reform measures must leave decision-making to patients, providers
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Wed, 10/07/2009 - 17:52 | Posted in:Will government-supported comparative effectiveness research (CER) come between doctors and patients in making treatment decisions? The jury, I think, is still out.
We all can agree, as stated in a recent blog post by the Center for American Progress (CAP), that the goal of CER is to "permit patients and their health providers to make better decisions about care based on evidence."
PIPC: A Strong Advocate for Health Reform
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Sat, 09/05/2009 - 03:33 | Posted in:Despite recent media accounts, PIPC is decidedly not an "anti-reform" group. We are pro-reform, and we were established to promote sound, patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER). PIPC's mission statement, adopted in 2008 when the Partnership was founded, states that PIPC is "dedicated to supporting CER that strengthens physician and patient decision making, improves health care quality, and supports continued medical progress."
Navigating the CER Debate
Submitted by Tony Coelho on Wed, 09/02/2009 - 18:29 | Posted in:Over the past few weeks, the health care debate has underscored the level of confusion that many people have about what is actually being proposed. This has certainly been the case for comparative effectiveness research, where there are a number of different proposals, and many descriptions of the effect these proposals would have on health care cost, quality and patient access to care.
