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 Discusses Patient Care with Former HHS Secretary
February 3, 2012 |

On Tuesday night, PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho joined former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson at the University of Charleston in West Virginia for a speaker series titled "Who Decides Patient Treatments" to discuss the future of health care in the United States.

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PCORI Releases their Draft Priorities
January 30, 2012 |

PCORI released a draft of their National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda for public comment. The PCORI Board, which is responsible for funding research, is asking for a 55 day public comment period to discuss and solicit feedback from patients, caregivers, professionals, and the general public on the research priorities.

In the draft, PCORI prioritized five broad research areas:

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Differentiating Patients, Consumers, and Patient Advocacy Organizations
October 18, 2011 |

When conducting Comparative Effectiveness Research it is crucial to understand the differences between the players involved in the process. In his remarks at the  2nd Annual Forum on Achieving Patient centeredness , Marc Boutin, executive vice president and COO at the National Health Council, discussed the important differences between the three major players in the process: the patient, the consumer, and the patient advocacy organization. He stated that many times when the patient is discussed they are not defined.

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Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Recent Budget Deal Included GAO Audit of CER Expenditures

Submitted by admin on Mon, 04/25/2011 - 21:31 | Posted in:

A little-noticed provision of the  Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution which was passed earlier this month  requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct an audit of government CER projects funded by the Recovery Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Due just two months from the date of enactment, this provision could prove interesting to anyone who follows the issue of comparative effectiveness research. The provision states:

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:

Building a Patient-Centered CER Program

Submitted by admin on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 17:13 | Posted in:

With enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the patient and provider communities now for the first time have a blueprint for patient-centered comparative effectiveness research written into law.  

In a recent press release, PIPC outlined the most important CER provisions in the bill.

“Congress worked hard to pass health care reform that included patient-centered CER.  The bill will result in the creation of the Patient-Cent

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