Comparative Effectiveness Research Will Help Deliver Better Medical CareWhen consumers shop for most products in America, we have the power of information—whether it’s on the Internet or in publications such as
Consumer Reports. When making important purchases as informed consumers, we typically try to collect all available data then make the best decision for ourselves and our families. Tools such as
Consumer Reports help us make better decisions by gathering the data for us. This well-known journal and website, for example, looks at products in a variety of areas and presents the findings in an understandable and comparable way that helps consumers decide which product is best for them. But isn’t it ironic that good, up-to-date information is readily available to consumers in so many sectors, but not in health care?
An interesting team of authors wrote about this recently in a
New York Times op-ed. The unlikely trio of Billy Beane (a former professional baseball player), Newt Gringrich (former Republican Speaker of the House), and John Kerry (senator and former Democratic presidential candidate) used compiling fantasy baseball teams to make their point. They argue that today there is more information available to choose a player for a fantasy baseball team than on the effectiveness of life-and-death medical procedures. Further, they describe how baseball has been improved by better use of data and statistics and suggest that a health care system driven by robust comparative clinical evidence will save lives and money.
But in stark contrast, the quality and quantity of information about medical treatments and services is scarce. Not only does this hamper a consumer’s ability to choose the best product, but it could result in less-than-optimal health outcomes. Comparing the effectiveness of a range of treatments for a condition and assessing how appropriate a treatment is for a person of a certain gender or background is a logical way of closing the information gap that exists in health care today.
Comparative effectiveness research does just that. It evaluates different drugs, medical devices, and clinical procedures for the same illness against each other. In contrast, the bulk of research done today examines whether a specific treatment works compared to doing nothing, but comparative effectiveness research evaluates which therapy works best among a range of possibilities for the same illness or condition.
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