New trends in technology assessment: will comparative-effectiveness research and healthcare reform stifle medical device innovation?

摘要

Summary: Debate continues over healthcare reform's role in curbing costs and reducing waste in the U.S. healthcare system. Some in the medical device industry fear that comparative- effectiveness research, which is part of the new legislation, may stifle innovation of new technologies in a climate of scrutiny.The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is expected to affect more than the uninsured in the United States. Consider the medical device industry. The industry research firm IBISWorld (Los Angeles, CA, USA) predicts that medical device manufacturers will experience notable consolidation within the next five years due to new taxes (estimated at dollar20 billion), coupled with the implementation of comparative-effectiveness research. "Smaller manufacturers may not have the resources to rebut studies that question a product's value," said Sophia Snyder of IBISWorld in a statement.