Using data from comparative effectiveness studies to inform cost-effectiveness analyses or other economic evaluations would strengthen ethical policy making.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(7):651-655. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.7.pfor1-1507.
Decisions about where and to whose professional stewardship patients are admitted are influenced by federal policies of which physicians might not be aware.
AMA J Ethics. 2023; 25(12):E901-908. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.901.
As physicians we decide which tests or treatments go on the bill but have little idea how our decisions impact what patients pay. Now patients, payers, and policymakers are demanding that we consider the cost of our recommendations.
This process of developing EBM-based guidelines and applying them to clinical care highlights the tension between generating unbiased knowledge based on statistical aggregation and the application of this information to individual patients.