title: A framework for assessing the value of diagnostic imaging in the era of comparative effectiveness research.
abstract: In June 2009, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research submitted a report to the President and Congress in which the Council described the purpose of comparative effectiveness research (CER) as developing evidence-based information for interventions and determining under what circumstances an intervention is effective (1). With the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a Patient-centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) was established to assist decision makers in making evidence-based health decisions through synthesis and dissemination of clinical CER of health interventions (2). Its founding has underscored a heightened need for health policy makers to consider the impact of health care technologies on final outcomes of interest--for example, functional status, quality of life, disability, major clinical events, and mortality (3-5).
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Institute for Technology Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital, 101 Merrimac St, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02114-4724, USA. scott@mgh-ita.org
authors.forename: G Scott
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Gazelle
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McGinn
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Menzin
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Amerongen
authors.forename: Leigh Ann
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D002985:Clinical Protocols / Q000592:standards; D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research; D003657:Decision Making; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000191:economics; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D012107:Research Design; D014481:United States