Cochrane Insurance Medicine: A New Resource for Evidence

 Cochrane Insurance Medicine: A New Resource for Evidence‐Based Insurance Medicine Cochrane Insurance Medicine, led by Professor Regina Kunz of the Swiss Academy of Insurance Medicine, University of Basel, is a new initiative focused on providing high quality evidence to promote evidence‐based practices (www.insuremed.cochrane.org). Traditionally, physicians, case managers, and other professionals make decisions about sick leave and disability management, guided by their clinical knowledge and experience. The role of scientific evidence in this process is often limited or absent, and both insurers and claimants have increasingly called for more and better evidence to inform disability management. The Cochrane Collaboration was formed in 1993, in response to the need to identify and synthesize high quality evidence from the scientific literature ‐ called Systematic Reviews ‐ to inform healthcare decisions (www.cochrane.org). Subsequently, Cochrane has approved a number of groups committed to focusing on specific areas. Cochrane Insurance Medicine will focus on evidence regarding sick leave certification, disability evaluation, prognosis of claim duration, treatment of disabling conditions, and return to work interventions. Cochrane Insurance Medicine will make existing systematic reviews related to insurance medicine available, promote the production of high‐quality reviews where needed, and work with stakeholders to help move evidence into practice. Clinician‐scientists from five established international academic institutions (University of Basel Hospital, Switzerland; Research Center for Social Insurance Medicine (KCVG) and Academic Center for Insurance Medicine (DACIM), the Netherlands; McMaster University, Canada; Karolinska Institutet, Sweden) initiated Cochrane Insurance Medicine, with the support of multiple. social and private insurers, professional organizations, and scientific institutions. Cochrane Insurance Medicine sets its agenda with the following priorities: 1. Providing medical experts and other professionals in insurance medicine with high quality evidence to help inform their decision‐making 2. Learning from stakeholders in both public and private insurance regarding areas where there is a need for evidence (systematic reviews) 3. Assisting claimants/patients with evidence to help promote their recovery process For more information, please contact Cochrane Insurance Medicine: regina.kunz@usb.ch Press release_CIMF_Final_2015_03_18.docx 18.03.2015 1/1