This edition of Health Affairs, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ), provides a variety of perspectives on the challenges and
potential rewards of building and using a stronger evidence base for health
care decisions.
Articles in this edition review the history and context of evidence-based
decisionmaking; they describe the challenges of developing the most relevant
evidence for different clinical and policy decisions. They discuss obstacles
and opportunities for practitioners and policymakers seeking to implement
evidence-based decisions.
Accessibility Notice: Each article is linked to a PDF file. These files are not resident on a Government Web site and do not comply with the requirements for Federal information resources under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Copyright © 2005, Health Affairs January-February 2005 (1).
Linked with permission. Institutions with subscriptions to this journal should be able to access the full text of articles.
Individuals without subscriptions may only be able to access the abstracts.
Contents
From the Editor
The New Imperative: Producing Better Evidence 
History & Context
PROLOGUE: Evidence-Based Medicine: History and Context
Evidence-Based Medicine: A Unified Approach
David M. Eddy
The Promises and Pitfalls of Evidence-Based Medicine
Stefan Timmermans
and Aaron Mauck
Evidence, Politics, and Technological Change
Annetine C. Gelijns,
Lawrence D. Brown, Corey Magnell, Elettra Ronchi, and Alan J.Moskowitz
Case Studies
PROLOGUE: Evidence-Based Medicine Case Studies
Evidence-Based Medicine and Policy: The Case of the Implantable
Cardioverter Defibrillator
Mark A. Hlatky, Gillian D. Sanders,
and Douglas K. Owens
PERSPECTIVE: Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators: An Excellent
Case Study
Marshall S. Stanton
Evidence, Economics, and Emphysema: Medicare's Long Journey
with Lung Volume Reduction Surgery
Scott D. Ramsey and Sean D. Sullivan
Surrogate Endpoints and FDA's Accelerated Approval Process
Thomas R. Fleming
Evaluating Evidence
PROLOGUE: Evaluating Evidence
Evidence Based? Caveat Emptor!
Earl P. Steinberg and Bryan R. Luce
When Is Evidence Sufficient?
Karl Claxton, Joshua T. Cohen, and Peter J. Neumann
Making Policy When the Evidence Is in Dispute
David Atkins, Joanna Siegel, and Jean Slutsky
Evidence of Evidence-Based Health Policy: The Politics of
Systematic Reviews in Coverage Decisions
Daniel M. Fox
PERSPECTIVE: Using Evidence Reports: Progress and Challenges In
Evidence-Based Decision Making
Mark Helfand
PERSPECTIVE: Comparative Effectiveness: Asking the Right
Questions, Choosing the Right Method
Steven M. Teutsch, Marc L. Berger, and Milton C.Weinstein
PERSPECTIVE: Evidence-Based Medicine in the United States—De Rigueur or Dream Deferred?
Dan Mendelson and Tanisha V. Carino
Implementing Evidence
PROLOGUE: Implementing Evidence
Evidence-Based Quality Improvement: The State of the Science
Kaveh G. Shojania and Jeremy M. Grimshaw
Evidence-Based Decision Making: Global Evidence, Local Decisions
Carolyn M. Clancy and Kelly Cronin
Evidence-Based Practice as Mental Health Policy: Three Controversies and a Caveat
Sandra J. Tanenbaum
PERSPECTIVE: Evidence-Based Guidelines as a Foundation for Performance Incentives
Alan M. Garber
PERSPECTIVE: A Clinical Research Strategy To Support Shared Decision Making
Sean R. Tunis
Internet Citation:
Putting Evidence Into Practice. Articles from Health
Affairs, Jan-Feb 2005. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/healthaff.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 