[Different name, same meaning? Comparative effectiveness research and patient-centered outcomes research in the USA]

Abstract

In 2009 the Congress of the USA commissioned a program on "Comparative Effectiveness Research" (CER) for two years. The program was funded with 1.1 billion USD and aims at projects that are directly relevant for the care of patients, investigate research questions and populations where research gaps are considerable, and which compare at least two interventions. Three years later it seems that in the USA CER has been replaced by "Patient-Centered Outcomes Research" (PCOR). This article summarizes the conceptual and empirical development of CER since 2009 and looks at the similarities and differences between CER and PCOR.