A new white paper from NEHI reviews the value of comparative effectiveness research (CER), where clinicians compare the effectiveness of one course of treatment against another. The paper also gives recommendations for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), created by the health care reform law, which will focus on this type of research. One of the challenges physicians face when treating patients at present, the authors write, is that “medical research in the U.S. is highly decentralized, as is the dissemination of research findings… The need for a thoughtful and aggressive dissemination policy has become increasingly more apparent in recent years as research has shown that medical practice has been slow to absorb evidence-based findings.” The paper “takes the position that PCORI must elevate dissemination as a priority, above and beyond the level called for in the Affordable Care Act.” The authors conclude:

“The rancorous national debate over the Affordable Care Act has raised the hurdles to the successful dissemination of comparative effectiveness research findings by creating public skepticism over the mission and value of CER. Yet the central thrust of the CER mission as outlined in the law is one that should command broad support: a mission to improve health care for individual patients by finding more effective ways to treat illness and deliver care.”