In This Week’s Issue:
1. Deadline Extended! Sign PIPC’s Letter to Tell HHS That Patients Deserve a Seat at the Table! click here to sign by Wednesday, April 29.
2. PIPC Executive Named to PCORI Advisory Panel on Communication and Dissemination Research, clickhere to view the press release.
3. Turning the Tide Policy Options Published in Clinical Cancer Research, click here to view the article.
4. PMC: How Alternative Payment Models Could Help or Hinder Personalized Medicine, click here to view the white paper.
5. PCORI Board Approves $120 Million for New Patient-Centered Research Projects, click here to view the press release.
6. Health Affairs Blog: Beyond SGR: Aligning The Peanut Butter Of Payment Reform With The Jelly Of Consumer Engagement, click here to view the blog post.
7. NPR: Why Many Doctors Don't Follow 'Best Practices', click here to view the article.
8. Column: The Real Difficulty in Improving Concordance of Clinical Practice with Guidelines, click here to view the column.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinar, see details below.
10. Medical Journal Articles, see details below.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates, see details below.
1. Deadline Extended! Sign PIPC’s Letter to Tell HHS That Patients Deserve a Seat at the Table! click here to sign by Wednesday, April 29.
2. PIPC Executive Named to PCORI Advisory Panel on Communication and Dissemination Research, click
3. Turning the Tide Policy Options Published in Clinical Cancer Research, click here to view the article.
4. PMC: How Alternative Payment Models Could Help or Hinder Personalized Medicine, click here to view the white paper.
5. PCORI Board Approves $120 Million for New Patient-Centered Research Projects, click here to view the press release.
6. Health Affairs Blog: Beyond SGR: Aligning The Peanut Butter Of Payment Reform With The Jelly Of Consumer Engagement, click here to view the blog post.
7. NPR: Why Many Doctors Don't Follow 'Best Practices', click here to view the article.
8. Column: The Real Difficulty in Improving Concordance of Clinical Practice with Guidelines, click here to view the column.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinar, see details below.
10. Medical Journal Articles, see details below.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates, see details below.
1. Deadline Extended! Sign PIPC’s Letter to Tell HHS That Patients Deserve a Seat at the Table!
In March 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an ambitious new framework to move our health care system away from rewarding health providers for the quantity of care they provide and toward rewarding quality. While most patient stakeholders agree that paying for “value” rather than “volume” will result in better outcomes for patients, the shift to value-based payment holds significant implications for the patient-centeredness movement and the related issues of patient access and the physician-patient relationship. That’s why it’s important that patients have a seat at the table in determining how these new payment models are implemented. By signing onto our letter, you can add your name to the list of individual patients and patient organizations—themselves representing millions of patients nationwide—who are asking HHS to recognize patients as key stakeholders in this discussion. This effort begins with including patients within the Department’s new Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, which will accelerate the transition to alternative payment models and could play a key role in aligning them with the principles of patient-centeredness. To electronically sign the letter, click here to fill out your information by Wednesday, April 29.
2. PIPC Executive Named to PCORI Advisory Panel on Communication and Dissemination Research
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has appointed PIPC’s Deputy Director, Andrew Rosenberg, JD, MP, to serve on the Institute’s new Advisory Panel on Communication and Dissemination Research (CDR). Rosenberg, who has over 20 years of experience as a healthcare and disability policy consultant, as well as a Capitol Hill staffer, brings a unique perspective to patient-centeredness – informed by his personal experience as a caregiver to his mother, who passed away after a protracted fight with a rare form of cancer.
The members of PCORI’s new CDR advisory panel will lend their expertise and experience to help the Institute identify and prioritize key topics in the field for future research. The program concentrates on comparing approaches for communicating and using comparative effectiveness research information, including different approaches for shared decision making between patients and their care providers.
“I look forward to promoting the effective communication and dissemination of evidence that patients can use to make individualized care decisions,” Rosenberg stated. “Based on my experiences both in the health policy realm and in my personal life, I understand that the healthcare system can unintentionally disempower—rather than empower—patients with information. That’s why it’s so important that we get this right.”
Along with Rosenberg, the CDR panel's members represent a range of healthcare stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, researchers, payers, and industry, among others. They bring a variety of relevant experience, including expertise in health literacy, numeracy, and risk communication, as well as dissemination and implementation research. Clickhere to view the press release.
3. Turning the Tide Policy Options Published in Clinical Cancer Research
An article derived from the set of policy options developed by an expert working group, including PIPC, was published this week in the American Association for Cancer Research’s (AACR) journal Clinical Cancer Research. The Turning the Tide Against Cancer (T3) co-conveners highlight the need for public policies that align with advances in cancer science, explore the current policy landscape, and identify key focus areas critical to delivering patient-centered, high-quality cancer care. According to a summary of the article, “the co-conveners have identified several issue areas that merit particular focus in 2015:
Support FDA's efforts to modernize its framework for bringing new medicines to patients, through facilitating and implementing innovative approaches to drug development and regulatory review. Ensure that cancer clinical pathways or similar decision-support tools are transparent; developed through a physician-driven process that includes patient input; and meet minimum standards for clinical appropriateness, timeliness, and patient centeredness. Support oncology decision-support tools that are timely, clinically appropriate, and patient centered. Build on existing efforts to convene a multistakeholder committee and develop a report on ways to define and measure value in oncology care, taking into account many of the complex dynamics associated with measuring value, including the interests and needs of patients, as well as the importance of committed and ongoing support for innovative research.“These policy options are intended to further the national dialogue and represent meaningful and actionable steps toward supporting cancer research and care that is innovative, efficient, and focused on the patient.” Click here to view the article.
4. PMC: How Alternative Payment Models Could Help or Hinder Personalized Medicine
In a new white paper published by the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), titled “Paying for Personalized Medicine: How Alternative Payment Models Could Help or Hinder the Field,” PMC encourages health care policymakers to consider how alternative payment models (APMs) may promote or impede access to personalized medicine tests and treatments. The paper explores the potential impact of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), bundled payments, medical homes and clinical pathways on personalized medicine's development. According to a summary, “important factors that are essential to the future development of APMs include:
· The degree of transparency in their development and evaluation across all stakeholders, including patients, providers, manufacturers, and payers;
· The role of informed decision-making based on genomic and other research within APMs;
· The use and appropriate weighting of clinical quality measures that are focused on outcomes;
· The structure of provider financial incentives that support patient choice; and
· The inclusion of mechanisms to recognize and encourage appropriate adoption of personalized medicines.”
Click here to view the white paper.
5. PCORI Board Approves $120 Million for New Patient-Centered Research Projects
According to a recent press release, “the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved more than $120 million to fund 34 patient-centered clinical comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies on a range of conditions and patient populations. The new awards include nearly $58.5 million to fund five pragmatic clinical studies that seek to answer important questions about radiation therapy for breast cancer, fractures in older adults, and treatments for children with bipolar disorder and Crohn's disease... Each of the five studies will involve national advocacy organizations, major professional societies and associations, payers, or other key patient and stakeholder groups in their research design and implementation. Click here to view the press release.
As Healthcare IT News reports, “‘We're excited about the important patient-centered questions that these studies aim to answer,’ said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, in a statement. ‘We're also particularly excited about the partnerships that the research teams are forming with key patient groups and other stakeholder organizations. This kind of engagement can lead to greater attention to the outcomes that matter most to patients and those who care for them and foster quicker dissemination and application of study results.’” Click here to view the article.
6. Health Affairs Blog: Beyond SGR: Aligning The Peanut Butter Of Payment Reform With The Jelly Of Consumer Engagement
In a recent post in Health Affairs Blog, authors Gary Bacher, Arielle Zina, and A. Mark Fendrick comment, “Th[e] shift toward value-based payment offers a significant opportunity for plans, clinicians, employers, policy makers, and other health system participants to better align provider and consumer incentives. When synchronized, quality-driven payment reform and person-centered engagement blend together as naturally as peanut butter and jelly… Recognizing the success of clinically nuanced Value-Based Insurance Designs (V-BID) in the commercial sector and the potential clinical and financial implications for MA beneficiaries, CMS released a request for information in 2014 asking for input on how various innovations such as V-BID might impact both beneficiaries and providers. Similarly, bipartisan, bicameral legislation was introduced in Congress last year encouraging a demonstration exploring Value-Based Insurance Design within Medicare Advantage.” Click here to view the blog post.
7. NPR: Why Many Doctors Don't Follow 'Best Practices'
In a new article published by NPR, Anders Kelto comments that “for all their talk about evidence-based medicine, a lot of doctors don't follow the clinical guidelines set by leading medical groups...[S]ince at least 2002, [Dr. Catherine Chen] says, clinical guidelines have stipulated that no preoperative testing is needed before cataract surgery. A large study showed that procedures like chest X-rays, blood tests and EKGs...do not benefit someone who is simply having a cataract removed...[Chen] discovered that half the ophthalmologists who performed cataract surgery on Medicare patients in 2011 ordered unnecessary tests.” Click here to view the article.
8. Column: The Real Difficulty in Improving Concordance of Clinical Practice with Guidelines
According to a new column in the Annals of Translational Medicine, “More population-based comparative effectiveness research is needed to help physicians make evidence-based decisions about the most appropriate care. Removing institutional, logistical, and financial obstacles to giving guideline-compliant care is important but may not reduce noncompliance much when the recommended treatments have significant potential side effects or even inconvenience… [G]uidelines rarely take patient wishes into account beyond certain points (e.g., whether the patient would rather have mastectomy or breast-conservation therapy). It is easier to measure whether particular treatments have or have not been done according to a guideline than to assess whether the patient’s values have been served. Nonetheless, some ways exist to help patients come to an informed decision when treatment options have different costs and benefits.” Click here to view the column.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinar
Hill Briefing: Peer Support Services
April 29, 2015, 10:00 – 11:00 AM; 2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) will hosting two congressional briefings – 10am in the House (334 Cannon) and 2pm in the Senate (SVC 200) – to educate staff and policy leaders about the important role peer support services play in helping persons with a mental health condition, addiction and traumatic brain injury (TBI). To register, email[email protected].
CEPAC: Integration of Primary Care and Behavioral Health May 1, 2015, 10:00AM - 4:00PM ET Click here for details.
AHRQ Research Methods Webinar on Determining the Pragmatic Characteristics of Research May 1, 2015, 1:30 - 3:00PM EST Click here for details.
PCORI Board of Governors Meeting May 4, 2015, 10:00AM - 5:00PM ET Click here for details.
ISPOR 20th Annual International Meeting May 16 - 20, 2015, Philadelphia, PA Click here for details.
Academy Health Webinar: Methodological Issues in Big Data Analytics May 7, 2015, 2:00 - 3:300 PM ET Click here for details. October 2015 CEPAC Meeting: Drug Therapies for High Cholesterol October 27, 2015, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM EDT Click here for details.
North Carolina Translational & Clinical Sciences Institute: Bridges to Advance CER May 13 - 14, 2015, Research Triangle Park, NC Click here to register. PCORI Advisory Panel on Improving Healthcare Systems Spring 2015 Meeting May 27 - 28, 2015 Click here for details. Getting to Know PCORI: From Application to Closeout June 22 - 23, 2015, Atlanta, GA Click here for details.
PCORI Advisory Panel on Rare Disease Spring 2015 Meeting May 27, 2015, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EDT Click here for details.
10. Medical Journal Articles
Comparative Effectiveness of Beta-Lactams Versus Vancomycin for Treatment of Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus Aureus Bloodstream Infections Among 122 Hospitals, click here to view. Abusive Head Trauma: A Review of the Evidence Base, click here to view.
Comparative Effectiveness of Budesonide/Formoterol Combination and Fluticasone/Salmeterol Combination Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients New to Controller Treatment: A US Administrative Claims Database Study, click hereto view.
A Review of the Most Common Patient-Reported Outcomes in COPD - Revisiting Current Knowledge and Estimating Future Challenges, click here to view. Patient-Centered Research into Outcomes Stroke Patients Prefer and Effectiveness Research (PROSPER): Implementing the Patient-Driven Research Paradigm to Aid Decision Making in Stroke Care, click here to view. Patient-Centric HTA: Different Strokes for Different Folks, click here to view. Managing Specialty Care in an Era of Heightened Accountability: Emphasizing Quality and Accelerating Savings, click here to view.
Comparative Effectiveness of Childhood Obesity Interventions in Pediatric Primary Care: A Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial, click here to view. Net Clinical Benefit of Oral Anticoagulants: A Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis, click here to view. Clinical Management of Breast Cancer Heterogeneity, click here to view.
Predictors of Treatment with Dialysis Modalities in Observational Studies for Comparative Effectiveness Research, click here to view. Web Searching for Systematic Reviews: A Case Study of Reporting Standards in the UK Health Technology Assessment Programme, click here to view. Comparative Effectiveness of Mitoxantrone Plus Prednisone Versus Prednisone Alone in Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer After Docetaxel Failure, click here to view.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates
Early Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment of C. difficile: Update, click here to comment by May 13.
Noninvasive Treatments for Low Back Pain, click here to comment by May 13.
In March 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an ambitious new framework to move our health care system away from rewarding health providers for the quantity of care they provide and toward rewarding quality. While most patient stakeholders agree that paying for “value” rather than “volume” will result in better outcomes for patients, the shift to value-based payment holds significant implications for the patient-centeredness movement and the related issues of patient access and the physician-patient relationship. That’s why it’s important that patients have a seat at the table in determining how these new payment models are implemented. By signing onto our letter, you can add your name to the list of individual patients and patient organizations—themselves representing millions of patients nationwide—who are asking HHS to recognize patients as key stakeholders in this discussion. This effort begins with including patients within the Department’s new Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, which will accelerate the transition to alternative payment models and could play a key role in aligning them with the principles of patient-centeredness. To electronically sign the letter, click here to fill out your information by Wednesday, April 29.
2. PIPC Executive Named to PCORI Advisory Panel on Communication and Dissemination Research
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has appointed PIPC’s Deputy Director, Andrew Rosenberg, JD, MP, to serve on the Institute’s new Advisory Panel on Communication and Dissemination Research (CDR). Rosenberg, who has over 20 years of experience as a healthcare and disability policy consultant, as well as a Capitol Hill staffer, brings a unique perspective to patient-centeredness – informed by his personal experience as a caregiver to his mother, who passed away after a protracted fight with a rare form of cancer.
The members of PCORI’s new CDR advisory panel will lend their expertise and experience to help the Institute identify and prioritize key topics in the field for future research. The program concentrates on comparing approaches for communicating and using comparative effectiveness research information, including different approaches for shared decision making between patients and their care providers.
“I look forward to promoting the effective communication and dissemination of evidence that patients can use to make individualized care decisions,” Rosenberg stated. “Based on my experiences both in the health policy realm and in my personal life, I understand that the healthcare system can unintentionally disempower—rather than empower—patients with information. That’s why it’s so important that we get this right.”
Along with Rosenberg, the CDR panel's members represent a range of healthcare stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, researchers, payers, and industry, among others. They bring a variety of relevant experience, including expertise in health literacy, numeracy, and risk communication, as well as dissemination and implementation research. Click
3. Turning the Tide Policy Options Published in Clinical Cancer Research
An article derived from the set of policy options developed by an expert working group, including PIPC, was published this week in the American Association for Cancer Research’s (AACR) journal Clinical Cancer Research. The Turning the Tide Against Cancer (T3) co-conveners highlight the need for public policies that align with advances in cancer science, explore the current policy landscape, and identify key focus areas critical to delivering patient-centered, high-quality cancer care. According to a summary of the article, “the co-conveners have identified several issue areas that merit particular focus in 2015:
Support FDA's efforts to modernize its framework for bringing new medicines to patients, through facilitating and implementing innovative approaches to drug development and regulatory review. Ensure that cancer clinical pathways or similar decision-support tools are transparent; developed through a physician-driven process that includes patient input; and meet minimum standards for clinical appropriateness, timeliness, and patient centeredness. Support oncology decision-support tools that are timely, clinically appropriate, and patient centered. Build on existing efforts to convene a multistakeholder committee and develop a report on ways to define and measure value in oncology care, taking into account many of the complex dynamics associated with measuring value, including the interests and needs of patients, as well as the importance of committed and ongoing support for innovative research.“These policy options are intended to further the national dialogue and represent meaningful and actionable steps toward supporting cancer research and care that is innovative, efficient, and focused on the patient.” Click here to view the article.
4. PMC: How Alternative Payment Models Could Help or Hinder Personalized Medicine
In a new white paper published by the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), titled “Paying for Personalized Medicine: How Alternative Payment Models Could Help or Hinder the Field,” PMC encourages health care policymakers to consider how alternative payment models (APMs) may promote or impede access to personalized medicine tests and treatments. The paper explores the potential impact of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), bundled payments, medical homes and clinical pathways on personalized medicine's development. According to a summary, “important factors that are essential to the future development of APMs include:
· The degree of transparency in their development and evaluation across all stakeholders, including patients, providers, manufacturers, and payers;
· The role of informed decision-making based on genomic and other research within APMs;
· The use and appropriate weighting of clinical quality measures that are focused on outcomes;
· The structure of provider financial incentives that support patient choice; and
· The inclusion of mechanisms to recognize and encourage appropriate adoption of personalized medicines.”
Click here to view the white paper.
5. PCORI Board Approves $120 Million for New Patient-Centered Research Projects
According to a recent press release, “the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved more than $120 million to fund 34 patient-centered clinical comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies on a range of conditions and patient populations. The new awards include nearly $58.5 million to fund five pragmatic clinical studies that seek to answer important questions about radiation therapy for breast cancer, fractures in older adults, and treatments for children with bipolar disorder and Crohn's disease... Each of the five studies will involve national advocacy organizations, major professional societies and associations, payers, or other key patient and stakeholder groups in their research design and implementation. Click here to view the press release.
As Healthcare IT News reports, “‘We're excited about the important patient-centered questions that these studies aim to answer,’ said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, in a statement. ‘We're also particularly excited about the partnerships that the research teams are forming with key patient groups and other stakeholder organizations. This kind of engagement can lead to greater attention to the outcomes that matter most to patients and those who care for them and foster quicker dissemination and application of study results.’” Click here to view the article.
6. Health Affairs Blog: Beyond SGR: Aligning The Peanut Butter Of Payment Reform With The Jelly Of Consumer Engagement
In a recent post in Health Affairs Blog, authors Gary Bacher, Arielle Zina, and A. Mark Fendrick comment, “Th[e] shift toward value-based payment offers a significant opportunity for plans, clinicians, employers, policy makers, and other health system participants to better align provider and consumer incentives. When synchronized, quality-driven payment reform and person-centered engagement blend together as naturally as peanut butter and jelly… Recognizing the success of clinically nuanced Value-Based Insurance Designs (V-BID) in the commercial sector and the potential clinical and financial implications for MA beneficiaries, CMS released a request for information in 2014 asking for input on how various innovations such as V-BID might impact both beneficiaries and providers. Similarly, bipartisan, bicameral legislation was introduced in Congress last year encouraging a demonstration exploring Value-Based Insurance Design within Medicare Advantage.” Click here to view the blog post.
7. NPR: Why Many Doctors Don't Follow 'Best Practices'
In a new article published by NPR, Anders Kelto comments that “for all their talk about evidence-based medicine, a lot of doctors don't follow the clinical guidelines set by leading medical groups...[S]ince at least 2002, [Dr. Catherine Chen] says, clinical guidelines have stipulated that no preoperative testing is needed before cataract surgery. A large study showed that procedures like chest X-rays, blood tests and EKGs...do not benefit someone who is simply having a cataract removed...[Chen] discovered that half the ophthalmologists who performed cataract surgery on Medicare patients in 2011 ordered unnecessary tests.” Click here to view the article.
8. Column: The Real Difficulty in Improving Concordance of Clinical Practice with Guidelines
According to a new column in the Annals of Translational Medicine, “More population-based comparative effectiveness research is needed to help physicians make evidence-based decisions about the most appropriate care. Removing institutional, logistical, and financial obstacles to giving guideline-compliant care is important but may not reduce noncompliance much when the recommended treatments have significant potential side effects or even inconvenience… [G]uidelines rarely take patient wishes into account beyond certain points (e.g., whether the patient would rather have mastectomy or breast-conservation therapy). It is easier to measure whether particular treatments have or have not been done according to a guideline than to assess whether the patient’s values have been served. Nonetheless, some ways exist to help patients come to an informed decision when treatment options have different costs and benefits.” Click here to view the column.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinar
Hill Briefing: Peer Support Services
April 29, 2015, 10:00 – 11:00 AM; 2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) will hosting two congressional briefings – 10am in the House (334 Cannon) and 2pm in the Senate (SVC 200) – to educate staff and policy leaders about the important role peer support services play in helping persons with a mental health condition, addiction and traumatic brain injury (TBI). To register, email[email protected].
CEPAC: Integration of Primary Care and Behavioral Health May 1, 2015, 10:00AM - 4:00PM ET Click here for details.
AHRQ Research Methods Webinar on Determining the Pragmatic Characteristics of Research May 1, 2015, 1:30 - 3:00PM EST Click here for details.
PCORI Board of Governors Meeting May 4, 2015, 10:00AM - 5:00PM ET Click here for details.
ISPOR 20th Annual International Meeting May 16 - 20, 2015, Philadelphia, PA Click here for details.
Academy Health Webinar: Methodological Issues in Big Data Analytics May 7, 2015, 2:00 - 3:300 PM ET Click here for details. October 2015 CEPAC Meeting: Drug Therapies for High Cholesterol October 27, 2015, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM EDT Click here for details.
North Carolina Translational & Clinical Sciences Institute: Bridges to Advance CER May 13 - 14, 2015, Research Triangle Park, NC Click here to register. PCORI Advisory Panel on Improving Healthcare Systems Spring 2015 Meeting May 27 - 28, 2015 Click here for details. Getting to Know PCORI: From Application to Closeout June 22 - 23, 2015, Atlanta, GA Click here for details.
PCORI Advisory Panel on Rare Disease Spring 2015 Meeting May 27, 2015, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EDT Click here for details.
10. Medical Journal Articles
Comparative Effectiveness of Beta-Lactams Versus Vancomycin for Treatment of Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus Aureus Bloodstream Infections Among 122 Hospitals, click here to view. Abusive Head Trauma: A Review of the Evidence Base, click here to view.
Comparative Effectiveness of Budesonide/Formoterol Combination and Fluticasone/Salmeterol Combination Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients New to Controller Treatment: A US Administrative Claims Database Study, click hereto view.
A Review of the Most Common Patient-Reported Outcomes in COPD - Revisiting Current Knowledge and Estimating Future Challenges, click here to view. Patient-Centered Research into Outcomes Stroke Patients Prefer and Effectiveness Research (PROSPER): Implementing the Patient-Driven Research Paradigm to Aid Decision Making in Stroke Care, click here to view. Patient-Centric HTA: Different Strokes for Different Folks, click here to view. Managing Specialty Care in an Era of Heightened Accountability: Emphasizing Quality and Accelerating Savings, click here to view.
Comparative Effectiveness of Childhood Obesity Interventions in Pediatric Primary Care: A Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial, click here to view. Net Clinical Benefit of Oral Anticoagulants: A Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis, click here to view. Clinical Management of Breast Cancer Heterogeneity, click here to view.
Predictors of Treatment with Dialysis Modalities in Observational Studies for Comparative Effectiveness Research, click here to view. Web Searching for Systematic Reviews: A Case Study of Reporting Standards in the UK Health Technology Assessment Programme, click here to view. Comparative Effectiveness of Mitoxantrone Plus Prednisone Versus Prednisone Alone in Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer After Docetaxel Failure, click here to view.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates
Early Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment of C. difficile: Update, click here to comment by May 13.
Noninvasive Treatments for Low Back Pain, click here to comment by May 13.
