IVI Research Brief Explores Implications of "Value of Hope"

A research brief from the Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) took a look at how accounting for patients’ attitudes towards risks in treatment outcomes affects value. Focusing on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the brief used the IVI-NSCLC model, an open-source simulation model that assesses the costs, benefits, and risks of sequences of treatment for EGFR-mutated disease. The model also includes an experimental module for calculating the value of hope, which has been suggested as one of the elements to augment conventional cost-effectiveness analysis.

Costs and outcomes for 2 possible treatment sequences were determined and the value of hope was added to the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) by estimating the QALYs a patient would need to obtain to be indifferent toward the 2 sequences of treatment.

Read the full research brief.