JAMA
January 26, 2011, Vol 305, No. 4, pp 329-423
http://jama.ama-assn.org/current.dtl

Commentaries
The Promise of Comparative Effectiveness Research
Paul Sullivan, Don Goldmann
JAMA. 2011;305(4):400-401.doi:10.1001/jama.2011.12

[Initial language per JAMA convention]

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide an unprecedented stimulus for translational and health services research. A $1.1 billion investment in comparative effectiveness research (CER) 1 should produce a torrent of new information about the effectiveness of drugs, technologies, and interventions. For this to result in better, more cost-effective health care, better evidence is needed to address the translational gap between clinical studies and everyday practice. 2 In essence, this is CER for implementation strategies (a type of CER seriously underrepresented in current discourse, but necessary to deliver on the Institute of Medicine’s goals for improved health care quality).

Credit is due to the US Department of Health and Human Services for recognizing this need. Evaluation of the implementation and dissemination strategies for mainstream CER is embedded within several programs funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that share the broad objective of spreading CER findings widely…