Tuesday, October 04, 2005

AHRQ – Effective Health Care Program

www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2005/effectivepr.htm


HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality launched its new Effective Health Care Program to help clinicians and patients determine which drugs and other medical treatments work best for certain health conditions.

The new program includes three components:

Comparative Effectiveness Reports—The 13 existing Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) will focus especially on comparing the relative effectiveness of different treatments.

Network of Research Centers—A new network of 13 Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions about Effectiveness research centers (referred to as DEcIDE) will carry out accelerated studies.

Making Findings Clear for Different Audiences—A new Clinical Decisions and Communications Science Center (Eisenberg Center) will translate findings in ways appropriate for the needs of the different stakeholders, including consumers, clinicians, payers, and health care policy makers

A new Web site for the program, www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov, was also announced.