PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In this era of healthcare reform, public and private payers and health insurers are scrutinizing costs and being forced to make tough decisions affecting patients and their own financial status. With an array of new technologies clamoring for attention, knowing which ones to focus on can be a challenge.
Helping to answer critical questions being asked by health plans around the country, ECRI Institute(R) (www.ecri.org), an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, announces the release of its list of top seven technologies for 2010 that insurers and other payers should be paying close attention to now.
ECRI Institute's Health Plan Watch List: 2010 Top 7 Technologies, available for free download, addresses important questions posed to the Institute from many payers over the past year, and includes commentary from our experts on comparative effectiveness, economic pressures, evidence-based patient outcomes research, and other considerations important for evidence-based policy making.
The final 7 list includes today's hottest technologies and technology-related issues spanning a variety of clinical and operational areas.
"Understanding the evidence for comparative clinical effectiveness of increasingly expensive health technologies and whether they provide better value are key issues for health plan executives and those running public programs," says Jeffrey C. Lerner, PhD, president and CEO, ECRI Institute. "Objective, technically accurate guidance is hard to find and we intend to help fill this gap effectively."
Four of the technologies on ECRI Institute's top 7 watch list for health plans include:
- Genetic Testing: What Do Health Plans Need to Know and Do?
- Premium CT and Ultra-high-field MRI: When Is It Necessary?
- Orthopedic Physician Preference Items: What Are the Real Costs and Where Is the Evidence?
- Radiation Oncology's Competing Modalities: Do Any Rise to the Top?
In creating its first annual health plan watch list, ECRI Institute drew upon its 40 years of experience in researching the safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of health technologies and its work in comparative effectiveness and health technology assessment by its Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) staff of clinicians, scientists, and other mission-driven professionals.
For a complete list of the top 7 technologies, including overviews and perspectives, download the complimentary white paper, Health Plan Watch List: 2010 Top 7 Technologies, on ECRI Institute's Web site at https://www.ecri.org/Forms/Pages/Top_Technologies_Health_Plans.aspx
For information about membership in the Health Technology Assessment Information Service(TM), contact ECRI Institute at htais@ecri.org, by telephone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5060; by fax at (610) 834-1275; or by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298, USA.
Contact ECRI Institute's European office at info@ecri.org.uk, ECRI Institute's Asia-Pacific office at asiapacific@ecri.org, and ECRI Institute's Middle Eastern office at middleeast@ecri.org.
About ECRI Institute
ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization and an Evidence-based Practice by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO, listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, strives to achieve the highest levels of safety and quality in healthcare by collecting and analyzing patient safety information and sharing lessons learned and best practices.
SOURCE ECRI Institute
'/>"/>
| SOURCE ECRI Institute Copyright©2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved |
Related medicine news :
1. Dishler Laser Institute Announces Dr. Jon Dishler Selected as a Leading Laser Eye Surgeon of the United States, as Seen in Forbes Magazine
2. Dishler Laser Institute Announces Dr. Jon Dishler Selected as a Leading Laser Eye Surgeon of the United States, as Seen in Forbes Magazine
3. The Performance Management Institute of Australia Issues a Warning for Business Leaders
4. Employment Policies Institute Launches $10 Million Campaign Urging the Public to Rethink Health Care Reform
5. Anesthesia Society Selects Sanford-Brown Institute Instructor as Educator of the Year
6. St. Jude and UF Proton Therapy Institute to begin proton therapy clinical trial
7. St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital and UF Proton Therapy Institute to Begin Proton Therapy Clinical Trial
8. InteRNA Technologies and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to Collaborate on the Role of microRNAs in Cancer Pathways
9. Better Hearing Institute Urges People with Diabetes to Get Their Hearing Checked; Joins in Global Effort to Promote World Diabetes Day
10. President Selected to Open Sanford-Brown Institute - Grand Rapids
11. VIA Pharmaceuticals Featured at Cambridge Healthtech Institute Discovery on Target 2009 Conference
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |