MLA-Phil

Laura Koepfler, MLS, MLA Philadelphia chapter membership committee chair, has joined the Information Center staff of ECRI Institute as Hotline Response Team Leader. Laura and her team of three provide customized rapid review reports in response to client inquiries about diagnostic and treatment approaches including drugs, technologies, and health policy. Information specialists perform comprehensive literature searches of published peer-reviewed literature, gray literature, health care standards and guidelines, FDA and Medicare databases, and manufacturing information. Doctoral-level analysts analyze the literature and prepare the reports. Recent Hotline topics include “Adjustable Gastric Banding for Morbid Obesity” and “Interbody Cages for Spinal Fusion.” ECRI Institute (in Plymouth Meeting, PA) is an independent nonprofit healthcare research institute that has been designated as an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Information Center staff at ECRI Institute consists of eleven information specialists, including the library staff. (www.ecri.org)