ECRI Evidence Boot Camp 2021 | Effective Methods for Rapidly Assessing the Best Available Evidence

Robust and succinct syntheses of clinical evidence on drugs, biologics, medical devices, surgical procedures, and diagnostics are vital to making evidence-based decisions regarding patient care (e.g., coverage). ECRI and its team, skilled at supporting healthcare professionals through rapid review and assessment of the best available evidence, have maintained key knowledge and helped inform evidence methodology for decades.

Join ECRI for an interactive methodology workshop in which you will have the opportunity to engage with ECRI experts (e.g., Clinical Evidence Assessment, Evidence-based Practice Center) and invited partner organizations to refresh your evidence assessment knowledge, troubleshoot current challenges, gain strategic insights from ECRI methods analysts, and interact on relevant health technology topics.

Gain a deeper understanding of the following topics:

• Innovative methods of clinical evidence assessment
• Advanced librarian research techniques
• How PICOTS and the key question inform the evidence search; how the key question informs study selection criteria; and how these considerations, together with risk of bias and strength-of-evidence assessment and contextual factors, inform the selection of The Evidence Bar™ when evaluating the evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of medical interventions
• Clinical evidence assessment walkthrough of health technology topics
• The role of real-world evidence (panel discussion with ECRI and peer experts)
• Evolving tools in evidence assessment

Attendance is free of charge.

Virtual: The free workshop will be conducted in webinar format and includes presentations, interactive sessions, and a Q&A discussion among attendees, ECRI analyst presenters, and ECRI member panelists.

Learning objectives

At the end of this boot camp, attendees will be able to: 

• Demonstrate key clinical evidence assessment concepts
• Understand considerations for choosing The Evidence Bar™ in ECRI rapid clinical evidence assessments (e.g., key questions informing the search for evidence, study inclusions/exclusion criteria, factors in assessing safety and effectiveness)
• Identify real-world evidence examples and considerations in clinical evidence assessment and decision-making
• Recognize the highest standards and evolving tools employed in ECRI’s rapid assessment of the best available evidence

Sign up now for this free, educational, 4-hour workshop (full agenda) covering important evidence assessment strategy topics and proven methods to help you stayed informed and get ahead.

Who should attend?

• Medical Policy Managers, Medical Policy Analysts, Utilization Management Managers, Clinical Policy Consultants, and Medical Policy team members seeking scientific research support for new policy development and/or back office research support for producing internal assessments and updating existing policies
• Medical Directors interested in achieved value-based care outcomes through superior evidence assessment strategy
• Chief Medical Officers

Andrew Furman, MD, MMM, FACEP

Executive Director, Clinical Excellence, Technology Assessment, ECRI
Andrew Furman is an emergency medicine physician who has worked in clinical and leadership roles in Pennsylvania and Oregon. He worked as a quality and communications consultant within the Geisinger Health System, acting as a liaison between the closed model of care delivery at Geisinger and the more open models of care delivery in newly acquired hospitals and health systems. At Salem Health, in Salem, Oregon, he served as Vice President of Medical Affairs. After completing a Master of Medical Management degree at University of Southern California Marshall School Business, he joined Accolade in Plymouth Meeting. While at Accolade, Dr. Furman supported the organization’s mission to equip employees of self-insured companies with people, tools, and technology that empowered them to better navigate the complicated healthcare environment.

Alfredo Penzo-Mendez, PhD

Manager, Scientific Quality, Clinical Evidence-Genetic Test Assessment, ECRI
Alfredo Penzo-Mendez is a senior research analyst for Clinical Evidence Assessment and Genetic Test Assessment. His background is in cancer biology and he conducted basic research in academia for 15 years before joining ECRI. His current work focuses on creating in-depth clinical evidence assessments about a variety of health technology assessment topics and developing a formal framework for rapid evidence assessment using the Nested Knowledge systematic review platform. Alfredo earned his PhD from Sorbonne University in 2001.

Savvas C. Pavlides, PhD

Senior Manager, Scientific Quality, Clinical Evidence-Genetic Test Assessment, ECRI
Savvas Pavlides is senior manager, scientific quality for Clinical Evidence Assessment and Genetic Test Assessment. He joined ECRI in 2014 and is part of a large analyst team producing clinical evidence assessments on diverse health technology topics, many of which are driven by the needs of current ECRI members. Savvas’ background includes cell and molecular biology, as well as high throughput proteomics. Prior to ECRI, Savvas was a research scientist at New York University Cancer Center.

Jesse Munn, MBA

Director, Clinical Content/Team Operations, Clinical Evidence-Genetic Test Assessment, ECRI
Jesse Munn is director, clinical content and team operations for Clinical Evidence Assessment and Genetic Test Assessment services. He joined ECRI in 2003 and previously contributed to ECRI’s patient safety and health system risk management solutions. As director, he leads a team of research analysts who deliver expert evidence assessment and education about various health technology topics (drugs, devices, procedures, and care processes).

Jim Reston, PhD

Senior Associate Director, Clinical Evidence Assessment and Evidence-based Practice Center, ECRI
Dr. Reston is co-director of contracts and consulting in ECRI’s Clinical Excellence group. He is responsible for writing and reviewing clinical evidence reports using a range of systematic review methodologies. These include rating study quality and strength of evidence using systems developed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group, and utilizing various meta-analytic techniques for evidence synthesis. 

Dave Snyder

Senior Research Analyst, Clinical Evidence – Genetic Test Assessment, ECRI
Dave Snyder has been with ECRI and its Evidence-based Practice Center and Clinical Evidence Assessment for 21 years. He has experience in health technology assessment, evidence-based medicine methodology, qualitative and quantitative research synthesis in medicine, and meta-analysis, and specializes in rapid reviews. He has authored systematic reviews of wound treatments (skin substitutes, negative pressure wound therapy, and synthetic wound dressings), orthopedic surgery procedures (hip and knee replacement, vertebroplasty), procedures involving bone fracture repair (non-unions, demineralized bone matrix), devices for peripheral hemorrhage control, and procedures involving intervertebral discs. 

Stacey Uhl

Associate Director, Center of Evidence and Guidelines, ECRI
Stacey Uhl has been with ECRI’s Evidence-based Practice Center and Center for Clinical Evidence and Guidelines for over 15 years. She has extensive experience in conducting systematic reviews for various decision makers, including government agencies, guideline developers, hospital systems, and health plans. She has served as lead analyst on several large-scale systematic reviews to support the development of clinical practice guidelines for government agencies including the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense and for professional medical societies including the American College of Physicians. She works closely with guideline panel members to facilitate the translation of evidence into clinical practice recommendations. She has also authored several systematic reviews for ECRI’s EPC center covering topics such as malnutrition in hospitalized adults, calcineurin Inhibitors for renal transplant, and spinal fusion surgery.