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Comparative Effectiveness Chief: Coverage Decisions Should Be Made Based On Medical Research

Sarah Kliff has a fascinating interview with Joe Selby, the man in charge of running the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The Institute is an independent body established by the Affordable Care Act that will study the comparative effectiveness of different drugs and treatments. It’s just one of the ways health reform hopes to encourage providers to deliver only the highest quality care, eliminate waste and inefficiency, and ultimately lower health care costs. “Right, now coverage decisions are being made in the absence of evidence,” Selby explains.”One should be comforted to know that if we’ve generated better research, that the coverage decisions can take that into account. If we’re busy conducting research on what works best for this patient at this time, over time the amount of information will increase…[but] it is important to understand this question of what works best for whom. The answer is to find ways to look for, identify, verify real genuine treatment differences between patients.” Read the full piece here.

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