AARP Hearing Center
Background
To ensure high-quality care and the most efficient use of resources, clinicians and patients need to have the best possible evidence about the effectiveness of medical interventions. Research that compares treatment interventions and devices (comparative effectiveness research) can help identify effective treatments. These studies are costly and may require financial support from the public. Consumers and other community partners should participate in the identification of research priorities through public comments to increase the likelihood that public funds spent on comparative effectiveness research address areas of importance to them.
In 2009, the American Recovery and Reimbursement Act provided $1.1 billion for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Institutes of Health, to conduct comparative effectiveness research. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act authorized the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to identify research priorities, establish a national research agenda, conduct research, and disseminate research findings. The institute is required to conduct, support, and synthesize research related to the effectiveness and appropriateness of health services and procedures.
The Precision Medicine Initiative launched in 2015 aims to understand how a person's genetics, environment, and lifestyle can help determine the best approach to prevent or treat disease. In contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach, this initiative allows doctors and researchers to more accurately determine which treatment and prevention strategies for a particular disease will work in which people. It is in contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach. In that approach, disease treatment and prevention strategies are developed for the average person with less consideration for the differences between individuals. The All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to gather data from one million or more people living in the U.S. to accelerate research and improve health. By considering individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and biology, researchers will be able to deliver precision medicine.
EVIDENCE BASE FOR HEALTH CARE DECISIONMAKING: Policy
EVIDENCE BASE FOR HEALTH CARE DECISIONMAKING: Policy
Evidence and decisionmaking
Congress should ensure adequate funding to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of treatment interventions. The research should include prescription drugs, telehealth, medical devices, preventive services, and procedures with emphasis on addressing research gaps among groups disproportionately affected by certain conditions and groups that have been discriminated against. Funding also should support research to determine the most effective person- and family-centered care delivery approaches, including those intended to address the needs of people with multiple chronic conditions.