Background

The health economic burden on people in the United States is significant. According to the Peterson-KFF Tracker, Americans owe nearly $195 million in medical debt, and these financial burdens are worse for middle aged and BIPOC people. According to the Milken Institute’s Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, chronic disease costs the U.S. economy over $1 trillion annually.

When healthcare researchers measure the economic impacts on people in the healthcare system, they often focus on direct medical costs such as hospital bills, co-pays, and deductibles. However, patients and caregivers experience a wider range of economic impacts, such as costs of transportation to receive care, ability to work, or behavioral health concerns.

The Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) and AcademyHealth have partnered to develop a framework for researchers, value assessors, and other decision-makers to address the full range of economic impacts in research studies and decision-making.

For more information on this initiative, please contact Erica Malik at [email protected].

Project Objectives

To identify key actions and promising approaches needed to incorporate full range of economic impacts on patients and caregivers into research on comparative effectiveness and patient-centered health technology assessment.

Approach

IVI and AcademyHealth, in partnership with the Economic Impacts Steering Committee have gathered insights and recommendations from a wide range of stakeholder experts to develop and validate the development of the framework.

Key Project Dates

Steering Committee

  • Jennifer Bright, MPA (IVI)
  • Richard Chapman, PhD (IVI)
  • Elizabeth Cope, PhD, MPH (AcademyHealth)
  • Gwen Darien (National Patient Advocate Foundation)
  • Kathryn Davidson, MSW (CMMI)
  • Margo Edmunds, PhD, FAMIA (AcademyHealth)
  • Omar Escontrias, DrPH, MPH (National Health Council)
  • Juan Marcos Gonzalez Sepulveda, PhD, MS (Duke Clinical Research Institute)
  • Maureen Hensley-Quinn (National Association of State Health Policy)
  • Tom Hubbard (Network for Excellence in Health Innovation)
  • Laura McClung, PhD (UCB, Inc.)
  • Sharon Phares, PhD, MPH (National Pharmaceutical Council)
  • Laura Pizzi, MD (ISPOR)
  • Elridge Proctor, MPA (GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer)
  • Abby Sears (OCHIN)
  • Cristie Upshaw Travis (HealthCareTN)
  • Gretchen Wartman (National Minority Quality Forum)

Additional Resources