The Importance of Collaboration in Comparative Effectiveness Research

Collaboration has been viewed as crucial to the production of the type of comparative effectiveness research (CER) needed to inform real-world decisions by patients, providers and health systems. Collaborations across institutions and disciplines may allow for sharing and further development of new research methods and a focus on comparisons of the intervention and outcome measures that matter most to typical decision makers. Collaborative research in CER may also facilitate the inclusion of patients, clinicians and delivery settings that are representative of the populations and locations where the CER findings will ultimately be applied in point-of-care decisions. The evaluation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) CER portfolio created an opportunity to learn more about types of collaborative relationships in CER, the potential benefits of collaboration and factors that facilitate or hinder progress on CER projects.