Not too long ago, I went shopping for a new car. At first, I was overwhelmed by the choices. But taking advantage of all the consumer-friendly information available, I read performance ratings in magazines, and found even more product comparisons on the Internet. When I finally bought the car, I was confident that I had made the right choice.
But it's a different story when we have to make an infinitely more important decision – which treatment to choose for a medical condition. The problem isn't a lack of information, but how to pull it together so you can make side-by-side comparisons.
That's where my agency's Effective Health Care Program comes in. This new program enables you and your patients to compare treatments for high-priority medical conditions, and see which ones have been proven to be the most effective.
Last year, the program released its first comparative effectiveness report on treatment alternatives for gastric reflux disease.[1] Later this year, we'll release reports on breast cancer diagnosis, arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and other important topics.
By going to our Web site, http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov, you can see and comment on these reports as they are proposed and drafted. We need broad input as we decide:
What high-priority topics should be chosen for comparative effectiveness reports?
Whether there is additional evidence that should be considered for reports now being drafted? And
How these reports should be disseminated so that more practitioners, purchasers, and consumers can use this information?
The Effective Health Care Program is an important new chapter in the history of evidence-based medicine, and you have the opportunity to help write it, for the benefit of your patients, your practice, and the US healthcare system.
That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Carolyn Clancy, Director of the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
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References
- 1.Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Comparative effectiveness of management strategies for gastroesophageal reflux disease. Rockville, Md: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
