Research Studies

Dissemination & Translation

Methodological Consultation

Hospital Medicine Fellowship Program

CERT Faculty

AHRQ CERT Sites

Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERT)

Hospitals are the site of intensive use of drugs, biological products, and devices, with a major impact on both the outcome and cost of care. In the past decade, hospital care has begun a major transformation through the increasing use of clinical information systems and systematic approaches to improving safety and quality, and rapid growth in the number of physicians specializing in hospital care, including intensivists and hospitalists. In the next decade, new basic and translational technologies, such as pharmacogenomics and clinical informatics, hold promise to bring a new era of personalized medicine to the hospital setting. This makes the production and dissemination of knowledge about the effective and cost-effective use of hospital therapeutics especially timely and important.

The Hospital Medicine and Economics Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERT) based at the University of Chicago seeks to create a powerful education and research infrastructure to produce and disseminate knowledge to improve the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the use of therapeutics in hospitals, including drugs, biological products, and devices.  To meet these objectives, the CERT will:

Perform a diverse set of descriptive and interventional research studies to improve the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of hospital-based therapeutics.

Translate and disseminate knowledge to improve the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of hospital-based therapeutics.

Provide methodological consultation in economic methods for the CERT Program, including clinical economics, cost-effectiveness, quality of life, and patient utilities.

The Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) is a research program administered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).  The University of Chicago collaborates with 14 other CERTs across the country to conduct research and provide education that will advance the optimal use of drugs, medical devices, and biological products.