title: Comparative effectiveness research in hand surgery.
abstract: Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is a concept initiated by the Institute of Medicine and financially supported by the federal government. The primary objective of CER is to improve decision making in medicine. This research is intended to evaluate the effectiveness, benefits, and harmful effects of alternative interventions. CER studies are commonly large, simple, observational, and conducted using electronic databases. To date, there is little comparative effectiveness evidence within hand surgery to guide therapeutic decisions. To draw conclusions on effectiveness through electronic health records, databases must contain clinical information and outcomes relevant to hand surgery interventions, such as patient-related outcomes.
authors: Department of Surgery, Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital, 5333 McAuley Drive, Reichert Health Building, Suite R-2111, Ann Arbor, MI 48197, USA.
authors: Shepard P
authors: SP
authors: Johnson
authors: Section of Plastic Surgery, Faculty Affairs, University of Michigan Health System, University of Michigan Medical School, 2130 Taubman Center, SPC 5340, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5340, USA. Electronic address: kecchung@umich.edu.
authors: Kevin C
authors: KC
authors: Chung
mesh_terms: D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006225:Hand / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D014481:United States
keywords: Comparative effectiveness research; Hand surgery; Large databases; Patient-reported outcomes