F. Randy Vogenberg, PhD

As publicly funded health care payment programs have grown over decades because of demographic shifts and expansion of coverage, comparative effectiveness research (CER) has emerged to address value in health care. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2008 (ARRA) included $1.1 billion for CER initiatives, and the new health care legislation created the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, which will be funded with $500 million or more annually. In these efforts exist the promise to create informed decisions that will improve health care at both the individual and population levels.

Owing to the recent senatorial election results in Massachusetts, anticipated health care reform agendas for the United States are undergoing change again as the electorate and Congress struggle with a burgeoning health care system.