There is a growing concern that untested new treatments and drugs are driving up the cost of health care. Consumers and payers don’t have enough trusted sources to evaluate the value of costly, new interventions – whether they are worth what they charge. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Research (ICER), a leading and trusted source for that information, is updating the methods they use to develop value reports. ICER’s Value Assessment Framework is based on almost ten years of experience working with all stakeholders across the health care system. The framework involves a deep dive into the comparative clinical effectiveness and comparative value of interventions. Research is then thoroughly vetted publicly through committees of clinicians, researchers, patient and consumer advocates such as CEPAC which focuses on the health care needs of New England states. ICER works with all health care stakeholders to inform their independent assessments, which are increasingly helping payers, policymakers and consumers in maximizing the value of our scarce health care dollars. As part of their ongoing commitment to developing independent and useful assessments to enhance public dialogue about value, ICER is updating their methodology. As part of that update, ICER is soliciting comments and suggested improvements. Comments can be sent to publiccomment@icer-review.org by September 12th. To help understand the framework and how it is used, ICER is hosting a webinar July 29th from 1 to 2pm. Register here.
