WASHINGTON – The Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services prioritize certain types of interventions and populations when allocating $400 million in funding for comparative effectiveness research.

The council recommended that HHS target funding on areas such as medical and assistive devices, procedures and surgery, behavioral change, prevention and delivery systems.

The panel identified "priority populations" to target with CER, including racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities or multiple chronic conditions, the elderly and children.

The council also said HHS should invest in data infrastructure and improve ways to disseminate research findings.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will use these recommendations – along with additional ones to be issued by the Institute of Medicine – to develop a specific plan for $1.1 billion in CER funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The research plan must be complete by July 30, 2009.

The Recovery Act provides $400 million in CER funding for the National Institutes of Health and $300 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.