A new series of Commonwealth Fund issue briefs looks at the agencies that conduct evidence-based evaluations of health care benefits in four countries, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, and France. These institutes are designed to ensure countries are getting the best possible value for the money spent and to help health care providers improve their clinical practice. The issue briefs are:
- Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care: Germany by Mona Nasser, D.D.S., Peter T. Sawicki, M.D., Ph.D.
- Comparative Effectiveness Review Within the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence by Kalipso Chalkidou, M.D., Ph.D.
- Evidence-Based Decision-Making Within Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme by Ruth Lopert, B.Sc., B.Med., M.Med.Sci.
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National Authority for Health: France by Lise Rochaix, Ph.D., and Bertrand Xerri, M.D
Also available is a series of videos featuring comparative-effectiveness experts from these four nations: former Harkness fellow Kalipso Chalkidou, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Policy Consulting, U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE); Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman of NICE; Professor Emeritus Lloyd Sansom, AO, Chair, the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC); Laurent Degos, M.D., Ph.D., Chair, the French National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé, or HAS); and Peter Sawicki, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Germany's Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care.
Another Fund study released last month asks if the time has come for cost-effectiveness analysis in U.S. health care. It finds that three-quarters of key decision-makers from a diverse group of California-based health care organizations believe that cost-effectiveness criteria should be used when making insurance coverage decisions. However, payers and the legal and policy communities would need to explore ways of reducing the litigation risk associated with cost-effectiveness analysis, the authors say.
