Does The Work Of The National Institute For Health And Clinical Excellence (NICE) Have Any Relevance For The United States?
Authors: Sorenson, C; Drummond, M; Kanavos, P; McGuire, A.
Publication: ISPOR Connections, Vol. 14, No. 4, July/August 2008. ISPOR Connections®, Copyright 2008. Reprinted by permission of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research at www.ispor.org (ISPOR). All Rights Reserved.
The growing emphasis on evidence-based decision-making in health care, especially regarding health technologies, has generated notable debate and discussion in the U.S. around establishing a more formalized process or system for conducting comparative effectiveness research. In the eyes of many observers, this is quite similar to the health technology assessment programs existing in a number of European countries. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the U.K. is one the most discussed and debated systems currently in operation, since it represents one of the most sophisticated national attempts to systematically review the value, or relative costs and benefits, of various treatments. The National Pharmaceutical Council commissioned a study of NICE in order to understand its methods of working and to explore its relevance to the United States.