Alliance member organizations are committed to providing patients with access to the highest quality specialty care available. All of the Alliance's specialty association members are actively engaged in the process of developing evidence-based and clinically relevant quality measures and establishing data registries through initiatives within their own specialty and/or through the AMA's Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement. Alliance member physicians are active participants in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service's Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) and support efforts to improve quality through reporting and guideline development.

Further, Alliance members support comparative effectiveness research (CER) that focuses on transparency, public input and patient safeguards. The Alliance believes CER should enhance information about treatment options and outcomes for patients and physicians, helping them to choose the care that best meets the individual needs of the patient. CER must recognize the diversity, including racial and ethnic diversity, of patient populations and subpopulations and communicate results in ways that reflect the differences in individual patient needs. CER should not be a vehicle for making centralized coverage and payment decisions or recommendations.

The following documents represent the Alliance’s position on quality improvement through PQRI, CER and other proposals:

Alliance letter to Representative Christensen applauding amendment on Comparative Effectiveness Research

Alliance letter to Senators Baucus and Conrad supporting S. 1213, "The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Act of 2009"