The Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center (Oregon EPC) conducts systematic reviews of healthcare topics for federal and state agencies and private foundations. These reviews report the evidence from clinical research studies and the quality of that evidence for use by policymakers in decisions on guidelines and coverage issues.
Directed by Mark Helfand, MD, MPH, the Oregon EPC began in 1997 with funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). It is a collaboration of Oregon Health & Science University, the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research. The EPC has received funding from AHRQ, Drug Effectiveness Review Program, and the National Institutes of Health.
Investigators come from a wide variety of disciplines within the Oregon School of Medicine and Nursing as well as the Portland VAMC and the Kaiser Center for Health Research. The EPC has also worked with investigators from the University of Washington, the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, the Portland Shriners Hospital, and Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.
Investigators with the Evidence-based Practice Center have a particular interest in diagnostic technology assessment, prevention effectiveness, evidence-based informatics, research in managed care, and critical appraisal of cost-effectiveness analysis and decision analysis. In the past faculty affiliated with the Center have investigated areas such as acute head injury, pain management, drug effectiveness, thyroid function tests, cancer screening, diagnostic use of upper GI endoscopy, asthma diagnosis and management, telemedicine, menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, vaginal birth after cesarean section, and statewide trauma systems.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this site is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Discuss any questions you may have regarding your medical condition or the information in these reports with your doctor, and always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment. Nothing contained in this site is intended for medical diagnosis or treatment.