What devices work really well from a patient outcomes perspective and should be the ones that hospitals should buy and payers reimburse?

That is the answer that UnitedHealth startup SharedClarity LLC is attempting to answer. The startup is made up of members that are hospitals or health systems who provide their clinical outcomes data, which in combination with claims data from UnitedHealth and device data may help to provide a clearer answer to which pacemakers or defibrillators really are superior to the competition.

SharedClarity can then help provider members to connect with device manufactures who make the best pacemaker or defibrillator and secure these devices in an affordable manner. Right now, the group is choosing to keep the results of their investigations of different category of devices confidential, says president Mark West. That is rather unfortunate given that patients who are not being treated at one of these member hospitals may not be getting the best clinical product. Nonetheless, if SharedClarity succeeds, the device industry may see more of comparative effectiveness research, which will ultimately benefit patients.