title: Better information for better health care: the Evidence-based Practice Center program and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
abstract: To provide decision makers with the best available evidence, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality established a network of Evidence-based Practice Centers across North America. The centers perform systematic reviews on important questions posed by partner organizations about clinical, organizational, and policy interventions in healthcare. The Agency works closely with partners and other decision maker s to help translate that evidence into practice or policy. In this paper, we review important lessons we have learned over the past 7 years about how to increase the efficiency and impact of systematic reviews. Lessons concern selecting the right topics and scope, working effectively with partners, and balancing consistency and flexibility in methods. We examine continuing evolutions of the program and the impact of planned work on comparative effectiveness performed as part of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.
authors.affiliation: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA. datkins@ahrg.gov
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Atkins
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slutsky
mesh_terms: D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D009656:North America; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D014481:United States; D016270:United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality / Q000458:organization & administration*