In a recent post on the IVI-sponsored Health Affairs featured blog series, IVI’s Darius Lakdawalla and Alan Balch stress the importance of incorporating the patient perspective into value assessments in healthcare, and of developing tools to help patients make value-based decisions in the marketplace.

The Balch and Lakdawalla piece reflects IVI’s view that value in healthcare rests in the eyes of the patients using it. This premise, rooted in the economic science of value assessment, underlies IVI’s initiative to engage a broad coalition of providers, payers, patient advocates, scientists, and others dedicated to preserving innovation, enhancing value, and ensuring patient-centric healthcare. IVI strives to engage patients as partners in our research and communications.
In addition to salient commentary like this, IVI looks for opportunities to engage in the dialogue around healthcare value in public forums and workshops around the country. For instance, on May 17th, Dr. Lakdawalla will participate in the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF) Policy Consortium, led by Dr. Balch, and focusing on the launch of NPAF’s Roadmap to Consumer Clarity in Healthcare. The NPAF Roadmap proposes models to foster patient-centered care and shared decision making.

Read the full article here.

About the Health Affairs/IVI Featured Blog Series: Drugs and Medical Innovation — In partnership with Health Affairs, IVI is proud to sponsor the “Drugs and Medical Innovation” blog series. On an ongoing basis, articles in this series will explore topics such as value-based reimbursement, drug policy and pricing, balancing short-term access against long-term rates of innovation, and other relevant issues. Our goal is to create an open forum for sharing ideas and debating issues in these areas, extending the discussion to a broader audience.