ARRA funded Comparative Effectiveness Research
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) provided $1.1 billion for Comparative Effectiveness Research:
- $300 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- $400 million for the National Institutes of Health, and
- $400 million for the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services
These funds are to support research assessing the comparative effectiveness of health care treatments and strategies, through efforts that:
- Conduct, support, or synthesize research that compares the clinical outcomes, effectiveness, and appropriateness of items, services, and procedures that are used to prevent, diagnose, or treat diseases, disorders, and other health conditions.
- Encourage the development and use of clinical registries, clinical data networks, and other forms of electronic health data that can be used to generate or obtain outcomes data.
Cancer-Related CER and ARRA
Although a wide variety of cancer prevention, screening, and treatment interventions have been shown to be effective, evidence is less complete regarding the effectiveness of these interventions in actual community practice, where populations, treatment settings, and techniques and practices may differ markedly from those of the initial controlled clinical trials. Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is widely defined as an evaluation of the impact of different options for treating or managing a given condition in a particular patient group. Most health care experts and policymakers believe CER results can improve patient outcomes while improving overall health-care value. ARRA supported efforts to build capacity and accelerate scientific progress in the area of cancer-related CER. These efforts include building coherent teams of interdisciplinary researchers, leveraging and integrating existing data and health system research resources, and advancing measurement techniques and methodology.
More information here: http://www.cancer.gov/aboutnci/recovery/recoveryfunding/investmentreports/comparative
