Health Law and Regulation

Recommendations for how HHS will spend $400 million for patient-centered research, also known as comparative effectiveness research, were released by Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER). The report is designed to help the HHS secretary and lawmakers improve the quality of care for patients and provide patients and doctors the best information possible to make decisions about healthcare. The Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research report also catalogues current federal activities on CER, which had not been previously inventoried.

The council will identify key areas of CER where funding could make the greatest impact to improve health outcomes for our nation. The council heard many perspectives, including public input from hundreds of diverse stakeholders, which influenced the entire report. The report includes a definition of CER, criteria for determining which research projects should be a priority, and a strategic framework to identify gaps and future priorities.

The council focused on the unique role that the Office of Secretary funds could play in complementing and leveraging funding currently allocated to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies. Recommendations include the following:

• It is critically important to be able to share the results of CER with doctors and patients and make better investments in how information is disseminated.
• Research should focus on the needs of priority populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, persons with multiple chronic conditions, the elderly and children.
• Research should be in specific high-impact health arenas, such as medical and assistive devices, surgical procedures, behavioral interventions and prevention.
• Investments should be made in data infrastructure, such as linking current data sources to enable answering CER questions, development of distributed electronic data networks and partnerships with the private sector.

The council’s report will help to inform HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ submission of an operational plan for the combined $1.1 billion allocated for patient-centered research. This investment will empower clinicians and patients with the information needed to achieve the best outcomes possible.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, June 29, 2009

Putting Patients First: Best Practices in Patient-Centered Care, 2nd Edition

This resource showcases what Planetree facilities and organizations have learned about the commitments, conditions, practices and policies that are needed to do more than give lip service to being patient-centered. This should be read by every student, nurse, physician, administrator, trustee and policy maker who is committed to creating healing environments, holding facilities accountable for their rhetoric and truly reforming healthcare.

Putting Patients First: Best Practices in Patient-Centered Care, 2nd Edition is available from the Healthcare Intelligence Network for $69.95 by visiting our Online Bookstore or by calling toll-free (888) 446-3530.