Heart Rhythm Society sends feedback to AHRQ on their Comparative Effectiveness Report on RFA

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AHRQ's Comparative Effectiveness Report on RFA

AHRQ conducts the Effective Health Care Program as part of its mission to organize knowledge and make it available to inform decisions about health care. As part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, Congress directed AHRQ to conduct and support research on the comparative outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness of pharmaceuticals, devices, and health care services to meet the needs of Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Society Submits Feedback on Comparative Effectiveness Report on RFA

On December 2, 2008 the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released Comparative Effectiveness of Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation, (PDF, 586K) a draft report commissioned to review the evidence for the clinical effect and safety of radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation for the management of atrial fibrillation (AF).

AF remains the most common sustained arrhythmia in clinical practice. Its prevalence increases with age, from 0.1 percent in people younger than 55 years, to more than 9 percent by 80 years of age.

AHRQ's open comment period to seek comments on the draft ended on December 31, 2008. The following members of the Heart Rhythm Society’s Scientific and Clinical Documents Committee and Health Policy Committees were chosen by the Society to lead the review and give feedback on the draft report:

Sana Al-Khatib, MD
N.A. Mark Estes III, MD, FHRS, CCDS
Rich Fogel, MD
Shih-Ann Chen, MD
Fred Kusumoto, MD, FHRS
Kathy Blake, MD
Raj Goyal, MD
Andrea Russo, MD

Although praising the report as "well-written, well balanced, and fairly inclusive," the Society felt that some of the conclusions were not supported. Read the Society's comment letter (PDF, 183K) for a full transcript of submitted comments and concerns.