A Medical Device Daily

The Institute of Medicine committee also made some recommendations that can't be accomplished without corresponding legislative action, so they sent a "to do" list to Congress as well. Among the more interesting requests relevant to the med-tech sector:

• Congress is urged to consider longer terms for certain officials, especially the directors of the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA commissioner to provide "critical continuity in the nation's public health and scientific endeavors," the committee urged.

• The HHS secretary should work with Congress to establish a capability for assessing the comparative value — including clinical and cost effectiveness — of medical interventions and procedures, preventive and treatment technologies, and methods of organizing and delivering care.

• Congress should authorize the department, in cooperation with the Office of Personnel Management, to assemble a package of current and innovative programs and benefits designed to encourage talented, experienced individuals to transition back-and-forth between government and private sector service, thereby identifying ways to leverage the best of both.

• Congress should give the secretary more authority to reward performance, innovation and the achievement of results, through bonuses, merit-based pay, recognition awards, or other mechanisms of proven effectiveness.

• Congress should give the secretary authority to create new programs that invest in the future generation of biomedical and health services researchers.