PMC advises lawmakers and government officials on the relationship between comparative effectiveness research (CER) and personalized medicine. Like personalized medicine, the goal of CER is to support evidence-based decisions for optimal patient care. PMC’s report titled Comparative Effectiveness Research and Personalized Medicine: From Contradiction to Synergy helped define thinking about the two subjects as CER emerged as a major theme in health care in 2009.

PMC helps educate patients and policymakers about scientific principles that can be useful in understanding the strengths and limitations of genetic health testing. In 2019, PMC published a Consumer’s Guide to Genetic Health Testing that describes what genetic tests are, outlines the types of information the tests can provide, and explains what patients should consider before ordering an at-home genetic test directly from a genetic testing company.

PMC advises regulatory and reimbursement officials on the scientific principles underpinning next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based tests, which are capable of examining millions of DNA variants at a time. Between 2018 and 2019, PMC comment letters helped prompt the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider its policies related to coverage of NGS-based testing for Medicare patients with advanced cancers.