NGC Update Service: June 15, 2015 ► Evidence Reports

NGC Update Service: June 15, 2015





New Technology Assessment: Catheter Ablation for Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation 

Evidence Reports

Evidence-Based Practice Center (EPC) reports are used for informing and developing coverage decisions, quality measures, educational materials and tools, guidelines, and research agendas. For more information on EPCs including a list of archived reports, visit the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Web site. 

219.   Diagnosis and Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 

218.   The Effectiveness and Risks of Long-Term Opioid Treatment of Chronic Pain 

217.   Vitamin D and Calcium: A Systematic Review of Health Outcomes 

216.   Antidepressant Treatment of Depression During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period 

215.   Safety of Vaccines Used for Routine Immunization in the United States 

214.   Smoking Cessation Interventions in Pregnancy and Postpartum Care 

213.   Communication and Dissemination Strategies To Facilitate the Use of Health-Related Evidence 

212.   Oral Contraceptive Use for the Primary Prevention of Ovarian Cancer 

211.   An Updated Critical Analysis of the Evidence for Patient Safety Practices 

210.   Screening and Diagnosing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus 

209.   Closing Multigene Panels in Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment 

208.   Closing the Quality Gap: Revisiting the State of the Science Series

• The Patient-centered Medical Home 
• Quality Improvement Interventions to Address Health Disparities 
• Bundled Payment: Effects on Health Care Spending and Quality 
• Public Reporting as a Quality Improvement Strategy 
• Medication Adherence Interventions: Comparative Effectiveness 
• Quality Improvement Measurement of Outcomes for People With Disabilities 
• Improving Health Care and Palliative Care for Advanced and Serious Illness 

207.   Allocation of Scarce Resources During Mass Casualty Events 

206.   Enabling Patient-Centered Care through Health Information Technology (Health IT) 

205.   Diagnosis and Management of Febrile Infants (0–3 Months) 

204.   An Evidence Review of Active Surveillance in Men With Localized Prostate Cancer 

203.   Enabling Health Care Decisionmaking Through Clinical Decision Support and Knowledge Management 

202.   Transition of Care for Acute Stroke and Myocardial Infarction Patients: From Hospitalization to Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Secondary Prevention

201.   Enabling Medication Management Through Health Information Technology (Health IT)

200.   Safety of Probiotics Used to Reduce Risk and Prevent or Treat Disease 

199.   Health Literacy Interventions and Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review 

198.   Management of Acute Otitis Media: Update 

197.   Alcohol Consumption and Cancer Risk: Understanding Possible Causal Mechanisms for Breast and Colorectal Cancers 

196.   Assessment of Thiopurine Methyltransferase Activity in Patients Prescribed Azathioprine or Other Thiopurine-based Drugs: Addendum—Updating the Report and Reanalysis 

195.   Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Preterm Infants 

194.   Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Back Pain II 

193.   Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Decline 

192.   Lactose Intolerance and Health 

191.   Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights 

190.   Enhancing Use and Quality of Colorectal Cancer Screening 

189.   Exercise-induced Bronchoconstriction and Asthma 

188.   Impact of Consumer Health Informatics Applications 

187.   Treatment of Overactive Bladder in Women 

186.   Family History and Improving Health 

185.   Diagnosis and Management of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) 

184.   Treatment of Common Hip Fractures 

183.   Vitamin D and Calcium: Systematic Review of Health Outcomes 

181.   Outcomes of Community Health Worker Interventions 

180.   Outcomes of Genetic Testing in Adults with a History of Venous Thromboembolism 

179.   Clinical Utility of Cancer Family History Collection in Primary Care 

177.   Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Back Pain Utilization 

175.   Barriers and Drivers of Health Information Technology Use for the Elderly, Chronically Ill, and Underserved 

174.   Management of Chronic Hepatitis B 

173.   Integration of Mental Health/Substance Abuse and Primary Care 

172.   HER2 Testing to Manage Patients with Breast or Other Solid Tumors 

170.   Effectiveness of Weight Management Programs in Children and Adolescents 

169.   Bariatric Surgery in Women of Reproductive Age: Special Concerns for Pregnancy 

168.   Outcomes of Maternal Weight Gain 

167.   Effectiveness of Assisted Reproductive Technology 

166.   Diabetes Education for Children With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Their Families 

165.   Hydroxyurea for the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease 

164.   Utility of Monitoring Mycophenolic Acid in Solid Organ Transplant Patients 

163.   Carbohydrate and Lipid Disorders and Relevant Considerations in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury 

162.   Therapeutic Management, Delivery, and Postpartum Risk Assessment and Screening in Gestational Diabetes 

132.   Costs and Benefits of Health Information Technology 

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Evidence Technical Reviews

17.   Nutritional Research Series 

• Volume 1: Application of Systematic Review Methodology to the Field of Nutrition 
• Volume 2: Issues and Challenges in Conducting Systematic Reviews to Support Development of Nutrient Reference Values: Workshop Summary 
• Volume 3: Reporting of Systematic Reviews of Micronutrients and Health: A Critical Appraisal 
• Volume 4: Effects of Eicosapentanoic Acid and Docosahexanoic Acid on Mortality Across Diverse Settings: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials and Prospective Cohorts 
• Volume 5: Comparison of Translational Patterns in Two Nutrient–Disease Associations 
• Volume 6: Concordance Between the Findings of Epidemiological Studies and Randomized Trials in Nutrition: An Empirical Evaluation and Analysis 

9.   Closing the Quality Gap:

• Volume 1: A Critical Analysis of Quality Improvement Strategies 
• Volume 2: Diabetes Mellitus Care 
• Volume 3: Hypertension Care 
• Volume 4: Antibiotic Prescribing Behavior 
• Volume 5: Asthma Care 
• Volume 6: Healthcare-Associated Infections 
• Volume 7: Care Coordination 

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Technology Assessment Reports

The technology assessment program at AHRQ provides technology assessments for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). These technology assessments are used by CMS to inform its national coverage decisions for the Medicare program as well as provide information to Medicare carriers. For a list of archived reports from 1990-2008, see the AHRQ Web site .

*Not available electronically. Contact AHRQTAP@ahrq.hhs.gov for report availability.
**Report is complete, but in the process of being prepared for posting. Please check back for updates.

2015

• Catheter Ablation for Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation 
• Cognitive Outcomes After Cardiovascular Procedures in Older Adults: A Systematic Review 
• Pain Management Injection Therapies for Low Back Pain 
• Use of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in the Medicare Population 

2014

• Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Technologies For Chronic Wound Care in the Home Setting 
• Technology Assessment of Molecular Pathology Testing for the Estimation of Prognosis for Common Cancers 

2013

• Assessment on Implantable Defibrillators and the Evidence for Primary Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death 
• Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) or Other In Situ Hybridization (ISH) Testing of Uterine Cervical Cells to Predict Precancer and Cancer 
• Skin Substitutes for Treating Chronic Wounds*** 
• Technology Assessment on Genetic Testing or Molecular Pathology Testing of Cancers with Unknown Primary Site to Determine Origin 
• Update on Emerging Genetic Tests Currently Available for Clinical Use in Common Cancers 

2012

• The Impact of Pre-Transplant Red Blood Cell Transfusions in Renal Allograft Rejection 
• Management of Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis*** 
• Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients With Diabetic Retinopathy 
• Systematic Review of Decision Tools and their Suitability for Patient-Centered Decisionmaking regarding Electronic Cardiac Devices 
• Systematic Review of ECG-based Signal Analysis Technologies for Evaluating Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome 
• Update on Mapping the Landscape of Genetic Tests for Non-Cancer Diseases/Conditions 

2011

• Effectiveness of Cochlear Implants in Adults with Sensorineural Hearing Loss 
• Health Risk Appraisal 
• Lifestyle Interventions for Four Conditions: Type 2 Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, Breast Cancer, and Prostate Cancer 
• Outcomes of Sipuleucel-T Therapy 
• Update on Horizon Scans of Genetic Tests Currently Available for Clinical Use in Cancers 

2010

• Bone Morphogenetic Protein: the State of the Evidence of On-Label and Off-Label Use 
• Consideration of Evidence on Antiemetic Drugs for Nausea and Vomiting Associated with Chemotherapy or Radiation Therapy in Adults 
• Diagnosis and Treatment of Secondary Lymphedema 
• ECG-based Signal Analysis Technologies 
• Genetic Tests for Non-cancer Diseases/Conditions: a Horizon Scan 
• Quality, Regulation and Clinical Utility of Laboratory-developed Tests 
• Comparative Evaluation of Radiation Treatments for Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer: an update 
• Report on the Evidence Regarding Off-Label Indications for Targeted Therapies used in Cancer Treatment 
• A Systematic Review of Loss-of-Heterozygosity Based Topographic Genotyping with PathfinderTG®*** 
• Systematic Reviews on Selected Pharmacogenetic Tests for Cancer Treatment: CYP2D6 for Tamoxifen in Breast Cancer, KRAS for anti-EGFR antibodies in Colorectal Cancer, and BCR-ABL1 for Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia 

2009

• Cost-effectiveness of CT Colonography to Screen for Colorectal Cancer 
• Horizon Scan: To What Extent Do Changes in Third-party Payment Affect Clinical Trials and the Evidence Base? 
• Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Devices 
• Reviews of Selected Pharmacogenetic Tests for Non-Cancer and Cancer Conditions 
• Use of Bayesian Techniques in Randomized Clinical Trials: A CMS Case Study 
• White Paper: Potential Conflict of Interest in the Production of Drug Compendia