What is Evidence-Based Health Care?

In alignment with our core mission of patient/consumer outreach, please see the attached one-pager for a brief and accessible description of EBH. download PDF

Suggested resources for patients/consumers:

Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Quick Links & Articles of Interest

• What is Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER)?

   

• Comparative Effectiveness: What it Means for You (LISTEN)
• *Free* Online Training for Consumer Advocates to understand the Fundamentals of Evidence-Based Health Care Concepts and Skills
• Evidence-Based Consumer Health - List of Web Sites 

Please note:  The views expressed in the articles below reflect those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Working Group. 

• How Will CER Affect the Quality of Health Care?

   

• Comparative Effectiveness Research and Personalized Medicine: From Contradiction to Synergy
• The CER Train Has Left... for Where? Are You on Board?
• Building a Patient-Centered CER Program
• Patient-Centered Policy Must Accompany Funding for CER

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)

The 2010 Affordable Care Act authorized the development of an independent, non-profit organization to drive the development, synthesis and use of research. The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is governed by a 21-member Board of Governors, and is tasked with helping patients, clinicians, purchasers and policy makers make better informed health care decisions. PCORI will commission research that is responsive to the values and interests of patients and will provide patients and their caregivers with reliable, evidence-based information for the health care choices they face.

• PCORI Homepage
• Environmental Scan of Patient Education and Support Materials (.doc)
• Patient Education Grid (.xls)

AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program (EHC)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) Effective Health Care Program (EHC), created in 2005 and authorized by Section 1013 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization (MMA) Act of 2003, conducts and supports a wide range of research that focuses on the outcomes and effectiveness of healthcare services and treatments. AHRQ partners with networks of researchers and clinical teams across the country to bring together existing data, conduct original research, and help the public learn about current available research. The Effective Health Care Program produces guides for patients and consumers comparing the benefits and harms of test or treatment choices for varying health conditions. In addition, the EHC program provides many opportunities for the public to provide comments on research questions, draft documents, and research topics.

The Stakeholder Group, which represents consumers, clinicians, academia, health plans, and medical technology manufacturers, is also a key player in providing different perspectives on the Effective Health Care Program. In collaboration with the Scientific Resource Center (currently based at the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center), the Stakeholder Group provides input on research questions, methodologies, and dissemination strategies. Current members are completing a two-year term to end in 2010.

Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP)

DERP is a collaboration of two public entities, the Center for Evidence-based Policy and the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center, who have joined together to produce systematic, evidence-based reviews of the comparative effectiveness and safety of drugs in many widely used drug classes, and to apply the findings to inform public policy and related activities in local settings.

The DERP project produces systematic literature reviews of drug classes. Components of these reviews include Key Questions, Draft Reports and Evidence Tables, and Final Reports and Evidence Tables.  Please click here to access these products.

FDA's AERS

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) which is a computerized information database designed to support the FDA's post-marketing safety surveillance program for all approved drug and therapeutic biologic products. The ultimate goal of AERS is to improve the public health by providing the best available tools for storing and analyzing safety reports. The FDA receives adverse drug reaction reports from manufacturers as required by regulation. Health care professionals and consumers send reports voluntarily through the MedWatch program. FDA staff use reports from AERS in conducting postmarketing drug surveillance and compliance activities and in responding to outside requests for information.

The reports in AERS are evaluated by clinical reviewers in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) to detect safety signals and to monitor drug safety. They form the basis for further epidemiological studies when appropriate. As a result, the FDA may take regulatory actions to improve product safety and protect the public health, such as updating a product’s labeling information, sending out a "Dear Health Care Professional" letter, or re-evaluating an approval decision. Click here for more information.