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Abstract
Although it has not received a lot of attention from the public as of yet, the ACA created the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) that could significantly impact how physicians treat chronic disease and how patients participate in their own medical decision-making. The organizing theme is that not all treatments are effective, and not all patients are appropriate for all treatments. Two tenets of the ACA are represented by PCORI. For one, health care outcomes can be improved by standardizing care toward treatments that have been proven to be effective. In addition, health outcomes will improve when patients are provided adequate information such that they are able to fully participate in making decisions about their care. Not only is comparative effectiveness not a new concept, PCORI is not the first initiative centered on effectiveness research. Evidence-based treatment has been a core component of health care delivered under pay for performance programs since the California Pay for Performance Pilot Study (2001-2006).