ISPOR: The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research

James D. Chambers, PhD, MPharm, MSc, of Tufts Medical Center was named the 2017 recipient of the Bernie J. O'Brien New Investigator Award at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting. He highlights the trends he is most looking forward to seeing develop over the next year and the next 5 years.

Gene therapies have tremendous potential. They are a short treatment that could have lifelong effects. However, the very expensive therapies have a lot of unknowns and raise a number of ethical and practicality questions.

Cost-effectiveness thresholds can do more than just guide determinations on whether drugs have value, explained Patricia Danzon, PhD, professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Using these thresholds as a requirement for reimbursement provides an incentive for research and development focused on producing new drugs that will be considered effective enough to pay for.

The notion of letting Medicare negotiate drug prices has been around for years, but has recently gained new traction under President Donald Trump. Panelists at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting, held May 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts, discussed the complexities of allowing Medicare to negotiate prices and whether or not it would produce meaningful savings.

Thresholds can be useful to focus the conversation around the value of treatments in healthcare even if stakeholders have different views on what thresholds should be, explained Steve Pearson, MD, MSc, president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.

Is it possible to leverage social networks to influence response to treatment among an untreated population? During the second plenary at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting, held May 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts, Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, of Yale University, described his research into social network interventions.

A tailored approach to value assessment will help drive innovation and impact patient outcomes and access to care, said Ilene Hollin, PhD, MPH, of the National Pharmaceutical Council.

Of the payers who have an outcomes-based contract in place, only 9% view them as being very successful, while 50% say they are somewhat successful. Panelists agreed that flexibility is necessary for these contracts to succeed.

Every 5 years, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has to be reauthorized. This year the program has to be reauthorized by September, and that normally would have happened by now, except the issue has flown under the radar with the other big healthcare issues dominating Congress' attention, explained David. M. Cutler, PhD, of Harvard University.

Stakeholders’ perspectives can vary, and their different preferences matter when it comes to value assessment, but only if the right questions are being asked.

While there is a lot of uncertainty about what the final Senate healthcare reform bill will look like, Gail Wilensky, PhD, of Project HOPE, expects the bill will ultimately be to the left of the House bill in order to get the moderates on board.

Healthcare is a complicated issue with few, if any, easy fixes. The important thing is that the country continues to move forward, according to panelists during the first plenary at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting, held May 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts.