According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, over 19 million Americans had at least one major depressive disorder (MDD) episode in the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the unmet need for depression treatment access. Conventional cost-effectiveness models for assessing the value of MDD treatments typically do not prioritize factors and outcomes important to patients; in their primary analyses, the societal perspectives relevant to this prevalent condition are not included. Current approaches may also not fully address the decision-making needs of payers, employers, and clinicians.

IVI has launched a multi-year initiative to build and test an open-source value assessment prototype model to facilitate the evaluation of health interventions indicated for MDD.

Built upon the finalized model scope, the draft model protocol outlines the technical specifications and data sources that will guide the model development in the subsequent modeling phases. The purpose of the public comment period was to obtain feedback in the following three main areas before we finalize the model protocol:

• Data gaps in key model inputs and potential data sources and partners to address such gaps
• Prioritization of data sources and technical approaches, when multiple valid approaches exist
• Potential use cases, particularly how the MDD model can help inform decisions in your organizations

Comments were submitted either on letterhead via email or through an online survey form, which allowed for comments related to the key questions or to provide general feedback. All comments will be published on our website.

The model scope outlines IVI’s preliminary assumptions for the MDD model design. The purpose of the public comment period is to obtain feedback in three main areas:

• Assumptions and data elements missing from the initial model design
• Factors most important to include in the model
• Specific use cases to be built into the first edition of the model

To learn more about the model scope, access the recording of the  informational webinar or view the presentation slides.

Public comments were provided in one of two ways:

1. Compiled comments on organizational letterhead and submitted as a PDF to public.comment@thevalueinitiative.org; or
2. Completing an online survey.

Work on this first-of-its-kind MDD model will test a novel approach in building value assessment tools, whereby a multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (AG) is engaged, from the outset and throughout the conceptualization and development process. The Advisory Group is comprised of diverse stakeholders, including patients, employers, payers, clinicians, researchers, and model developers. Their insights will help inform the model’s scope, development, validation, and application. Such an endeavor will also allow IVI to test how such an engagement approach can improve the credibility and relevance of the models.