The ability to conduct and implement comparative-effectiveness research (CER) enables a journey to better health care decision making. The fact that U.S. health expenditures in 2010 topped $2.6 trillion, representing 17.3% of our gross domestic product,1 is an important road sign. At this rate, health care spending may reach $4.6 trillion by 2020, just 10 years after passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). In 2014, when the Act is fully implemented, 15.8 million previously uninsured residents will receive health coverage, and by 2019, the number of newly insured is expected to reach 30.6 million. Health care spending is expected to jump as a result, with spending on prescription pharma-ceuticals alone expected to increase by 11% in 2014.
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