National Priorities for the Assessment of Clinical Conditions and Medical Technologies -- Copyright -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- Contents -- Summary -- ASSESSING MEDICAL PRACTICE -- A NATIONAL APPROACH -- PRIORITY-SETTING CRITERIA -- TWENTY ASSESSMENT PRIORITIES -- USING THE PRIORITIES -- ACCOMMODATING CLINICAL CONDITIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES -- NEXT STEPS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 A Pilot Process for Setting National Assessment Priorities -- ELEMENTS OF A NATIONAL APPROACH -- NATIONALLY APPLICABLE PRIORITY-SETTING CRITERIA -- Primary Criteria -- Potential (for an Assessment) to Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Potential to Affect a Large Patient Population -- Potential to Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Potential to Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Secondary Criteria -- Potential to Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Potential to Advance Medical Knowledge -- Potential to Affect Policy Decisions -- Potential to Enhance the National Capacity for Assessment -- Potential to Be Readily Conducted -- A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR PRIORITIES -- The Clinical Condition Approach -- The Technology Approach -- Integrating the Clinical Condition and Technology Approaches -- METHOD OF THIS PILOT STUDY -- Overview -- Round I of the Modified Delphi Process -- Round II of the Modified Delphi Process -- The Priority-Setting Group's Meeting -- Activities Following the Priority-Setting Meeting -- 3 Twenty Priority Assessment Areas -- CLINICAL CONDITIONS -- Breast Cancer -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Cataracts -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost.

Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Enhance the national capacity for technology assessment -- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Enhance the National Capacity for Technology Assessment -- Coronary Artery Disease -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Gallbladder Disease -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Gastrointestinal Bleeding -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Enhance the National Capacity for Assessment -- Joint Disease and Injury -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Low Back Pain -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge.

Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Osteoporosis -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Pregnancy -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce unexplained variations in medical practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Prostatism -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance medical knowledge -- Enhance the National Capacity for Technology Assessment -- Psychiatric Disorders -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Substance Abuse -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- TECHNOLOGIES -- Diagnostic Imaging Technologies -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Diagnostic Laboratory Testing -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Erythropoietin -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost.

Affect Policy Decisions -- Implantable Devices -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Intensive Care Units -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Reduce Unexplained Variations in Medical Practice -- Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- Organ Transplantation and Replacement -- Improve Individual Patient Outcome -- Affect a Large Patient Population -- Reduce Unit or Aggregate Cost -- Address Social and Ethical Implications -- Advance Medical Knowledge -- Affect Policy Decisions -- 4 Next Steps -- 5 Conclusions and Recommendations -- Appendixes -- A Clinical Conditions and Medical Technologies Considered by the Priority-Setting Group -- B Comparison of Priority-Setting Criteria -- C Organizations Providing Background Information -- American College of Physicians (ACP) -- American Hospital Association (AHA) -- American Medical Association (AMA) -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBS) -- Ecri -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Institute for Health Policy Analysis (IHPA), Georgetown University -- Institute of Medicine Committee on the Effectiveness Initiative of the Health Care Financing Adminis ... -- Metropolitan Life Insurance Company -- Office of Health Technology Assessment (OHTA), National Center for Health Services Research -- Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), U.S. Congress -- Pfizer, Inc. -- Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (ProPAC) -- Bibliography -- Glossary.