#TBT: 5 Years Later—Comparative Effectiveness Research Survey & the ACA

As part of our “Throwback Thursday” blog series, we’re taking a look at a topic that’s currently in the news and tagging it with previous research, videos or commentaries in a relevant way. As the saying goes, “what’s old is new again” – and we hope you enjoy our wonky twist on #TBT.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) celebrates its fifth birthday this week. An important element of ACA is the advancement of comparative effectiveness research (CER), and this week also marks the fifth year of the National Pharmaceutical Council’s (NPC) annual survey, “Comparative Effectiveness Research and the Environment for Health Care Decision-Making.” In a webinar at 12:30 pm today we’ll reveal the results from this latest survey [click here for more details, and how to register]. For this Throwback Thursday, we’re taking a look back at the infusion of federal funds to conduct CER under the ACA; the impetus for NPC’s annual survey; and how thought leader expectations for CER have evolved over the years.

So what exactly is CER? CER is the conduct and synthesis of research comparing the benefits and harms of different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat and monitor health conditions. In 2010, the ACA directed new funding for this research and established the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to oversee the initiative. According to PCORI’s website, the organization’s mandate is to “improve the quality and relevance of evidence available to help patients, caregivers, clinicians, employers, insurers, and policy makers make informed health decisions” through CER.

While the foundational work for CER was underway in 2010, NPC began working with the public health research firm Social & Scientific Systems to examine the environment for health care decisions, especially the current state of CER and its impact on health care decision-making.  We developed a survey to take the pulse of key health care stakeholders and set a baseline for assessing their beliefs about the status of CER, tracking progress and judging future effects. The survey looks at how familiar stakeholders are with CER; which organizations play key roles in various aspects of CER (e.g., funding, monitoring, conducting); and whether CER is making an impact on decision-making. Over the years additional questions have been added to the survey as areas such as the use of real-world evidence and the completeness of the evidence base have grown in relevance.

What is the major trend NPC’s study has revealed? NPC’s Kimberly Westrich, vice president of health services research, answered this question in a blog post: “The biggest trend has been the clear ascent of PCORI as a key player in the CER space. In the early years of the survey, their role in areas such as establishing research standards and priorities, and funding the research, was viewed as supporting, even minimal. Now they are viewed as having a leading role in many areas.”

You can view all of the past survey results on NPC’s website, and don’t forget to register for today’s webinar to hear this year’s results with featured speakers PCORI Executive Director Dr. Joe Selby and AcademyHealth President and CEO Dr. Lisa Simpson.