Partnership to Improve Patient Care

Progress to Improve Patient Care

Over the past few decades, significant advances in the U.S. health care system have helped people live longer and better lives. In fact, both mortality and disability rates have fallen consistently since the 1970s. And major strides have been made against serious diseases and chronic conditions like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, mental health conditions, and rare diseases, just to name a few. Medical advances are making a major contribution to the progress being made.

It is important for proposals on comparative effectiveness research to recognize the value of medical innovation to patients and the health system, and to take approaches that support continued medical progress.

Breat Cancer

Breast cancer, the leading cancer among women of all races in the United States, has been the subject of intense research and successful treatment advances in recent decades. Today, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is nearly 90 percent, compared to 75 percent 35 years ago. Read More.

HIV/ AIDS

The HIV virus was first identified in the United States in 1981 and since that time has claimed the lives of more than half a million people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately one million people in the United States are living with HIV and AIDS today. Incidence of HIV peaked in the 1980s; however AIDS cases have declined dramatically, particularly due to the introduction of antiretroviral drugs in 1996. In fact, the U.S. AIDS death rate has fallen 70 percent due to further advancements in medicine and combination therapies. Read More

Hypertension

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death among both men and women in the United States with nearly 2,500 deaths occurring daily. One of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease is hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure. Hypertension means that the pressure on the arteries is elevated; therefore the heart must work harder to pump blood to the body, which contributes to the hardening of the arteries and the development of heart failure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 1 of 3 American adults has hypertension. Read More.