Defining value of a treatment can be complicated, but at the center of it is the need to include both long-term and short-term effects, said Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, FRCP, founder and president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.
Defining value of a treatment can be complicated, but at the center of it is the need to include both long-term and short-term effects, said Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, FRCP, founder and president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER).
Transcript (modified)
There has been a lot of discussion about what value means and the definition can change depending on the stakeholder. What is ICER’s definition of value?
Value is a combination and that’s the hard part: there is no one thing, no matter how you define value there are different perspectives and that shouldn’t be lost. But to a certain extent our view of value is rooted most strongly in the long-term added benefits that a drug brings to patients, and the long-term added costs, if any. So that’s the anchor.
Once you gather that as a key part of value, you also often want to look at other considerations. For instance, is it a very, very severe condition for which we’ve never had any kind of adequate treatment? That influences everyone’s perspective on value, not just patients but doctors, insurers, and everybody else. So that’s why value is always going to be multifaceted.
But you look at that long-term mixture of the clinical outcomes and the costs, and then we look at the potential budget impact for affordability because if something if a great long-term value we still have to at least think about the value in the short-term to the health system, and how we manage that. It might mean that we have to lower the price further, even if it’s a good long-term value, or it might mean that we need to go slow and not treat so many patients initially, or find extra resources from savings and other parts of the healthcare system, or from somewhere else.
All of that’s possible, but you can’t have a real comprehensive view of value, in our eyes, unless you integrate and merge considerations long term and short term.
Empowering Community Health Through Wellness and Faith
April 23rd 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In the third episode, Camille Clarke-Smith, EdD, MS, CHES, CPT, discusses approaching community health holistically through spiritual and community engagement.
Listen
Dr Michael Farwell on FDG PET/CT Imaging to Predict Immunotherapy Response in Advanced Melanoma
April 15th 2024Michael Farwell, MD, associate professor of radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, provides insights into a study on the benefits of using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging to detect metabolic tumor changes in skin cancer.
Read More
Overcoming Employment Barriers for Lasting Social Impact: Freedom House 2.0 and Pathways to Work
April 16th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our second episode, in which we learn all about Freedom House 2.0 and the Pathways to Work program.
Listen
Increasing Lp(a) Awareness for Better Cardiovascular Health: Dr Mary McGowan
March 24th 2024For Lp(a) Awareness Day, Mary McGowan, MD, FNLA, chief medical officer of the Family Heart Foundation, highlights how most people with elevated Lp(a) are completely unaware that they have this increased risk and calls for increased testing.
Read More
Dr Al Benson on Reimbursement for Supportive Care When Treating Patients With Cancer
March 22nd 2024Al Benson, MD, FACP, FACCC, FASCO, medical oncologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and associate director of the Robert E. Tillery Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed findings from a national survey assessing barriers to comprehensive cancer care delivery.
Read More