Format:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (vii, 104 pages))
,
illustration.
Series Statement:
Technology assessment
Content:
This white paper, which was commissioned by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with sponsorship from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), explores the concern that conflict of interest may potentially influence the inclusion/exclusion decisions, editorial processes, production, and content of current drug compendia. Drug compendia--pharmacopoeia providing information on drugs, their effectiveness, safety, toxicity, and dosing - are frequently used to determine whether a medication has a role in the treatment of a particular disease; these roles include both therapeutic uses approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and off-label indications. Policy enactments have also resulted in use of the compendia to inform reimbursement decisions made by CMS and other third-party payers. The pages that follow provide: (1) a description of compendia processes, delineating points at which conflict of interest may arise; (2) an ethical framework for evaluating the potential presence and influence of conflict of interest in compendia; (3) results of an investigation into the policies and practices of four specific compendia (those officially approved for use in making Medicare coverage determinations) with regard to conflict of interest; and (4) a discussion of the adequacy of compendia approaches to conflict of interest, problems with conflict of interest that have been reported, and opportunities for minimizing conflict of interest in the compendia to ensure an objective and impartial system. Results presented in this white paper do not constitute a critique of existing compendia. Rather, the investigators explored specific questions with the intention of: identifying, if warranted, potential areas for improvement; assisting AHRQ and CMS in developing a systematic approach to the understanding of conflict-of-interest-related bias in drug compendia; and contributing to the effort to hone the compendia system such that it provides a digest of accurate, timely, unbiased, and complete evidence to clinicians as a reference for clinical decision-making.
Note:
Title from PDF title page. - Includes bibliographical references. - Description based on version viewed Feb. 13, 2015
Language:
English
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