Public Domain

Evaluation of systematic review outputs and outcomes is necessary to ensure user needs are being met, demonstrate impact, plan future dissemination, and justify funding. While the EPC program has been in operation for some time, efforts to evaluate the use of our CERs are still being developed. One important ongoing activity is conducted by one of the AHRQ-funded EPCs, ECRI, which monitors and documents CER use as measured by citation in clinical practice guidelines. The RTI-UNC EPC conducted a special project to analyze the impact of two CERs, with emphasis on the creation of new research opportunities.  AHRQ, with assistance from a student intern, completed a Web utilization project, based upon report hits and downloads, for a sample of CERs. Other efforts have assessed utilization by third party payers. None of the use monitoring activities or projects to date has addressed an increasingly popular type of resource for clinicians, clinical point-of-care (POC) tools. 

Learning frameworks define what an individual learner can do by detailing application of knowledge in various contexts—education, military, and employment, for instance—based on levels that indicate deeper and broader knowledge and application over time. They also provide access to alternative pathways for learners and workers to document and validate the skills required for credentials. This can increase the number of qualified candidates for employers and allow educational institutions to translate credentials and qualifications within a wider variety of learning pathways. Frameworks are important because multiple learning pathways would not connect without the translation tools that frameworks provide between and among postsecondary institutions, work-related learning, employer needs, military training and education, and community-based delivery options. With competencies as the currency, frameworks provide a mechanism to talk across providers and users of competencies by outlining how the various pieces fit together.