Boston, Mass., December 17, 2013 – The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is seeking nominations of clinicians as well as patient and public representatives to serve on the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (CEPAC). CEPAC is a regional body that provides objective, independent guidance on the application of medical evidence to clinical practice and payer policy decisions across New England. Supported by a consortium of New England state health policy leaders, provider groups and payers, CEPAC holds public meetings to consider evidence reviews of medical tests, treatments, and models for healthcare delivery, and to provide judgments regarding how the evidence can best be used across New England to improve the quality and value of health care services. New council members will be elected to serve for a three-year term, during which they will attend two full-day meetings per year. No council member is able to serve more than two consecutive three-year terms, though after a one-year absence, former council members are eligible to serve on CEPAC again.

CEPAC is an independent body of 18 members, composed of clinicians, methodologists, and patient and public representatives, as well as two ex-officio payer representatives. Prospective nominees should live in a New England state and have skills in the interpretation and application of medical evidence in health care delivery, including training in fields such as epidemiology, health services research, health economics, and decision sciences; or, practical experience in public health administration, system planning, and/or evaluation; public or private payer medical affairs; hospital or provider group quality management; and policy efforts to improve access to healthcare. CEPAC day-long public meetings are held twice yearly in locations across New England. The next CEPAC meeting will take place in June 2014.

All CEPAC members are eligible for travel reimbursement and all members (except ex-officio representatives) receive a $500 honorarium per meeting. To reduce the appearance of possible conflicts of interest, prospective nominees, excluding ex-officio candidates, cannot be directly involved in making medical policy decisions for any New England state health agency, or be employees of any private insurer or life sciences industry company. Council members must disclose if they have substantial financial interests in the healthcare industry, defined as more than $10,000 in healthcare company stock or more than $5,000 in honoraria or consultancies during the previous year from healthcare manufacturers or insurers.

ICER directs the CEPAC selection process and manages CEPAC as one of its flagship initiatives meant to develop and test new ways to adapt evidence reviews to improve their usefulness for patients, clinicians, and payers.

All CEPAC nominations should be submitted to ICER on or before February 20, 2014 and the final selection will be completed shortly thereafter. To apply, please email a CV and letter of interest to ICER.  Nomination by sponsoring organizations and self-nominations are both welcome.  Questions regarding activities of CEPAC and eligibility of nominees can be addressed to Sarah Jane Reed.

About CEPAC
CEPAC, an independent, regional body of practicing physicians, methodological experts, as well as patient/public members, provides objective, independent guidance on the application of medical evidence to clinical practice and payer policy decisions across New England. Led by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, CEPAC was originally funded by a federal grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), but is now supported by a broad coalition of state Medicaid leaders, integrated provider groups, public and private payers and patient representatives. For more information on CEPAC, please visit cepac.icer-review.org.

About ICER
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is an independent non-profit health care research organization dedicated to improving the interpretation and application of evidence in the health care system.

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