A little-noticed provision of the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution which was passed earlier this month requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct an audit of government CER projects funded by the Recovery Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Due just two months from the date of enactment, this provision could prove interesting to anyone who follows the issue of comparative effectiveness research. The provision states:
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report that includes the results of an audit of expenditures made for comparative effectiveness research through funds provided to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institutes of Health, or any other agency within the Department of Health and Human Services under title VIII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) or under PPACA. Such report shall include a description of the expenditures made, the entities who received such funding, and the purpose of the funding.
The Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) has a long-standing commitment to ensuring transparency in CER programs, and we welcome this provision. In fact, one of our ongoing projects supports a publicly accessible database of all CER research projects (www.CERInventory.org) funded by the Recovery Act, and we aim to expand this to include PPACA-funded research as well. In addition to shedding light on the kinds of CER projects being funded, this upcoming audit also could shed light on HHS efforts to comply with requirements such as ensuring award recipients provide an opportunity for public comment.
The Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) has a long-standing commitment to ensuring transparency in CER programs, and we welcome this provision. In fact, one of our ongoing projects supports a publicly accessible database of all CER research projects (www.CERInventory.org) funded by the Recovery Act, and we aim to expand this to include PPACA-funded research as well. In addition to shedding light on the kinds of CER projects being funded, this upcoming audit also could shed light on HHS efforts to comply with requirements such as ensuring award recipients provide an opportunity for public comment.
