Boston, Mass., February 16, 2012 – The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a leading academic comparative effectiveness research group based at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute for Technology Assessment, today announced that the next public meeting of the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (CEPAC) will be held Friday, June 1, 2012 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. The topic of this meeting will be treatment options for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). CEPAC members, drawn from clinical and public policy experts from all six New England states, will discuss the findings of the review on this topic produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), supplemented with additional analyses and information provided by ICER. The meeting materials will be available online for public comment beginning May 11, 2012.
“There are important questions regarding how best to diagnose and treat ADHD, creating significant variation in practice patterns that raise concerns for patients, clinicians, and payers,” stated Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc, President of ICER. “The CEPAC process – which brings clinicians and public representatives together to deliberate and vote on the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of different treatment options – will provide guidance on how the existing evidence can be applied in practice and policy across New England.”
Date: Friday, June 1, 2012
Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00PM ET
University of New Hampshire
Holloway Commons, 1st floor
Members of the public wishing to attend the meeting must register by May 29, 2012 by visiting the “Contact Us” section of
cepac.icer-review.org. The website also includes instructions for those wishing to submit written comments ahead of time, and those requesting the opportunity to make public comments at the meeting.
CEPAC is a regional body whose goal is to provide objective, independent guidance on the application of medical evidence to clinical practice and payer policy decisions across New England. Supported by a federal grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and with backing from a consortium of New England state health policy leaders, CEPAC will hold public meetings to consider evidence reviews of medical tests and treatments and provide judgments regarding how the evidence can best be used across New England to improve the quality and value of health care services. CEPAC consists of practicing physicians with experience in evaluating and using evidence in the practice of healthcare, as well as patient/public members with experience in health policy, patient advocacy and public health. ICER is managing the day-to-day operations of CEPAC as part of its federally funded RAPiD (Regional Adaptation for Payer Policy Decisions) initiative meant to develop and test new ways to adapt federal evidence reviews to improve their usefulness for patients, clinicians, and payers. A list of CEPAC members, and other information about the project, is available online at
cepac.icer-review.org.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is an academic research and policy group based at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute for Technology Assessment. ICER provides independent evaluation of the clinical effectiveness and comparative value of health care interventions. There are several features of ICER’s focus and methodology that distinguish it from other comparative effectiveness assessment organizations. First, ICER engages more deeply throughout the assessment process with all stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, manufacturers, purchasers, and payers. ICER also includes as part of all its assessments the results of cost-effectiveness analysis, and translates its findings into ratings of comparative clinical effectiveness and comparative value. Lastly, ICER works with all stakeholders to develop and evaluate applications of evidence to create innovative patient-clinician decision support tools, insurance benefit designs, and coverage and payment policies. Through these activities ICER seeks to achieve its ultimate mission of informing public policy and spurring innovation in the use of evidence to improve the value of health care for all. For more information, please visit
www.icer-review.org.
