title: Challenges ahead for federal technology assessment.
abstract: Sean Tunis and colleagues provide an excellent critique of current federal activities to assess new medical technology. These efforts generally do not involve primary data collection but rather reflect attempts to better synthesize existing information, to make conditional coverage decisions based on the data, and to increase coordination among government agencies. Many challenges remain on analytical, logistical, legal, and political fronts. Researchers and analysts should be more precise about what "rapid learning" means and strive to measure performance. Efforts are also needed to prioritize research, to communicate it to decision-makers, to involve stakeholders in the process, and to include cost-effectiveness information.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts-New England Medical Center, MA, USA. pneumann@tufts-nemc.org
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Neumann
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D035082:Federal Government; D005544:Forecasting; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics*; D009310:National Health Insurance, United States; D011050:Policy Making; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014481:United States