Comparative Effectiveness:
New Solutions to Address Complex Health Issues

January 15, 2009

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Chamber Foundation (NCF) hosted an event with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) to educate the public on the innovative and highly timely issue of comparative effectiveness. This event highlighted the challenges understanding the effectiveness of established and new treatments and how proposed reviews of these procedures and diagnosis’s could impact the U.S. health care system. This event hosted members of the business and health care community who are actively engaged in this issue. 

Although the description of comparative effectiveness has been evolving recently as many organizations and government officials attempt to address the many issues that complicate our health care system, the focus has not changed. The rigidity of the current system does not encourage efficiency or reward positive outcomes which include making treatments more affordable. Experts from the different sectors of the health care community addressed the need to reevaluate current treatments and how positive results can be realized both in the health of the patient and in the costs to the payers. 

Discussion topics included:

• Current Research
• Translating the Impact for Employers & Payers
• Macropolicy View of Comparative Effectiveness
• Necessary Tools to Selecting the Best Treatments
• The Future of Comparative Effectiveness

Speakers included:

• Mark McClellan, Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, The Brookings Institution
• David Nexon, Senior Vice President, Advanced Medical Technology Association
• Alan Rosenberg, M.D., Vice President & Medical Director, WellPoint, Inc.
• Jean Slutsky, Director; Center for Outcomes and Evidence, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• David Hickam, M.D., M.P.H.; Professor, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University

Click here to view the agenda.

Click here to access the Comparative Effectiveness Toolkit.

Click on the name below to access the presentation slides:

• Larry E. Fields, MD, MBA, FAHA, FACC, Senior Director, Head of Medical Policy, Worldwide Public Affairs, Pfizer Inc.
• Naomi Aronson, Ph.D., Executive Director, Technology Evaluation Center, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
• Alan B. Rosenberg, M.D., Vice President and Medical Director,
  WellPoint, Inc.
• Marc L. Berger, M.D., Vice President, Global Health Outcomes, Eli Lilly and Company
• David Hickam, M.D., M.P.H., Professor, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University
• Richard A. Justman, M.D., National Medical Director, United Healthcare Corporation
• Jeffrey Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Medical Officer, Health and Recovery Services Administration, Social and Health Services Department, State of Washington
• Jean Slutsky, Director; Center for Outcomes and Evidence, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, United States Department of Health and Human Services
  * Comparative Effectiveness: New Solutions to Address Complex Health Issues (Keynote slides)
  * Tools for Comparative Effectiveness (Panel discussion slides)
• Mark McClellan, Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, The Brookings Institution

For more information please contact Ben Askin at (202) 463-5500.

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