Evidence assessments, key to separating fact from fiction in healthcare, get a revamp from ECRI

Newly expanded CEAs deliver insights that help decision makers cut through misinformation and identify safe, evidence-based interventions 

ECRI, a global nonprofit advancing evidence-based healthcare, has expanded offerings in its clinical evidence assessments (CEAs) to give healthcare providers, researchers, and payors an even more clear, at-a-glance view of the safety and effectiveness of healthcare interventions and treatments.

Using a rigorous but rapid evidence assessment process based in the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) methodology, ECRI researchers are continually evaluating a variety of emerging and trending topics in healthcare—from new wound care products and obesity treatments to AI-enabled medical devices and digital health innovations.

ECRI CEAs are unbiased reports that guide healthcare providers and payors to the most clinically superior options. The reports inform clinical quality improvement and patient safety initiatives. They also support evidence-based practice decisions by identifying the best available evidence to align with clinician expertise and patient preferences. 
The assessments include a one-page summary that is meant to quickly inform decision makers of the state of the evidence around a product or intervention. This summary was recently expanded to add data visualization features, including patient-oriented outcomes that are color-coded to align with ECRI’s top-line evidence rating. This illustrates ECRI’s confidence levels in the available clinical studies based on how they were designed and used to collect the pertinent outcomes data.

 “Healthcare decision makers are inundated daily with new technologies making bold claims of clinical superiority and outcome improvement. They have very limited time to separate fact from fiction and make informed decisions,” says ECRI’s Director of Clinical Evidence Evan LeGault. “Right up front, our expanded assessments show the strength and quality of the evidence so our partners know right away whether they can trust the results. These reports help decision makers feel confident in their choices with a new level of transparency in the findings. They also help value analysis teams make the best purchasing decisions.” 

ECRI CEA reports outline the potential impact of the intervention on the health system in terms of cost, infrastructure, and care. They also transparently appraise each study and calculate the risk of bias, a critical component for clinicians and payors who seek to understand if the results of a controlled trial can be replicated in a real-world treatment environment. In addition, a new section on equity considerations describes the extent to which the technology or intervention may exacerbate, mitigate, or have no effect on health disparities in terms of patient representation in clinical trials, burden of care, patient-level barriers, and implementation barriers. 

Recent CEAs conducted by ECRI cover:

• Video-based patient monitoring for preventing falls
• Female external catheters for reducing urinary tract infections
• Reducing hospital-acquired infections
• Pulsed field ablation for treating atrial fibrillation
• Skin substitutes for treating pressure injuries
• Comparative effectiveness of sleep apnea treatments
• Pulse oximeter accuracy

“Medical misinformation abounds right now — we named it one of our top ten patient safety concerns this year,” says Shannon Davila, MSN, RN, CIC, CPHQ, FAPIC, Executive Director of ECRI’s Total Systems Safety. “Our expanded assessments are especially critical in today's healthcare environment to help our partners avoid unnecessary risk and make the best decisions for their patients and institutions. Our goal is to expedite the time-consuming and labor-intensive research needed to reach a safe conclusion.”

Learn more about ECRI’s Clinical Evidence Assessments.

Contact

Yvonne Rhodes, Director of Strategic Communications Operations, yrhodes@ecri.org

About ECRI

ECRI is an independent, nonprofit organization improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care across all healthcare settings. With a focus on technology evaluation and safety, ECRI is respected and trusted by healthcare leaders and agencies worldwide. For more than fifty-five years, ECRI has built its reputation on integrity and disciplined rigor, with an unwavering commitment to independence and strict conflict-of-interest rules. ECRI is the only organization worldwide to conduct independent medical device evaluations, with labs located in North America and Asia Pacific. ECRI is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ECRI acquired The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) in 2020 to address one of the most prolific causes of preventable harm in healthcare, medication errors; then acquired The Just Culture Company in 2024 to transform healthcare workplace cultures – thus creating one of the largest healthcare quality and safety entities in the world. Visit ecri.org to learn more.