IVI Announces Grant to National Health Council, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions to Improve Value Assessment

Alexandria, VA, July 20, 2020 --(PR.com)-- The Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI), a non-profit research organization dedicated to improving the science and practice of value assessment, announced today it is awarding a grant to the National Health Council (NHC) and the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions to help improve value assessment approaches that better reflect the needs of patients and employers. With support from IVI, the two organizations will host a series of virtual roundtable discussions with patient and employers to get insights on ways to improve value assessment to make it more meaningful to those who receive and pay for care. For example, current value assessment methods often exclude real-world data related to employee well-being and productivity, although both are important markers that a drug therapy is providing value to patients -- who are also employees -- covered by their employer’s benefits plan.

Elisabeth Oehrlein, PhD, MS, Senior Director, Research & Programs, at the NHC and Principal Investigator on this project described the impetus for this work: “We know productivity and absenteeism are important to patients but are often left out of value-assessment economic models. We conducted a pilot that unearthed clear challenges. For example, ‘traditional’ benefits (i.e., health insurance) may be included but, ‘non-traditional’ (e.g., parental leave and well-being programs) are unlikely to be captured in a value assessment, even though these are also very valuable to patients. We are thrilled to build on that previous work and identify possible solutions with our partners over the coming year.”

The roundtables, or moderated discussions, are designed to highlight how current value assessment approaches could be enhanced to better reflect patient and employer views, values, inputs, and needs. The concepts that emerge from these discussions will become qualitative data that is shared and refined with a team of value assessment experts so that it can ultimately be incorporated into improved value assessment methods and models.

This work builds on IVI’s multi-stakeholder dialogue in February, which highlighted the need to improve value assessment methods for patients and employers. “Making value assessment meaningful to those who receive and pay for care is core to IVI’s mission,” said Jennifer Bright, IVI’s executive director. “This research will enhance our understanding of what IVI’s flexible, open-source models need to incorporate to be both scientific and relevant. We’re honored to support this work and look forward to the roundtable discussions.”

Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, MS, executive vice president, Strategic Initiatives at the NHC said, “We know what matters most to patients is often absent when considering how to assess the value of new therapies. It is critical we find common ground. One place to start is among the NHC members representing patients who are employees and family members with health benefits covered by members represented in the National Alliance.”

Margaret Rehayem, director of Initiatives & Programs for the National Alliance, commented, “We must change the entire value assessment process so that a patient- and purchaser-informed ‘value lens’ is applied upfront. There is a discernable gap between how employers and patients articulate and measure value, and the metrics that are often used by the plans, brokers and PBMs advising and developing their coverage offerings. This research project should help to close that gap by identifying common elements that employers and patients agree will improve value assessments.”