Ensuring meaningful change in value assessment means recognizing the full economic impacts of serious health conditions on patients and caregivers

Alexandria, VA — July 27, 2022 — The Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) and AcademyHealth today announced the launch of a new initiative, “Recommendations to Guide Adoption of Patient-Centered Outcomes and Impacts for Decision-Making,” aimed to improve how researchers measure the full range of economic impacts of health care and health conditions on patients and caregivers.

As part of the initiative, IVI and AcademyHealth will convene a series of strategic dialogues with stakeholders to identify a better approach to understanding the full range of financial impacts on individuals living with serious health conditions. Both IVI and AcademyHealth are committed to ensuring that patients are engaged in healthcare research and value assessment.

“Patients are the individuals with the most experience about their condition, the impact of their health and healthcare on their everyday life, as well as the impact on their family. The healthcare system must build better approaches to understanding the decisions that patients make when weighing treatment and the cost burdens that come with it,” said Jennifer Bright, IVI’s Chief Engagement and Strategy Officer.

By gathering thoughtful input from stakeholders, the two organizations will develop a framework for measuring economic impacts to patients and caregivers that goes beyond co-pays and co-insurance. An approach that includes impacts related to employment and wages, social considerations, and educational attainment is needed to make our understanding of healthcare value more meaningful.

“While there has been a lot of progress in understanding the importance of including patient experiences into healthcare research and value assessment, we still need to develop specific measures to advance our goals. We at AcademyHealth are looking forward to partnering with IVI on this important initiative,” said Elizabeth Cope, Senior Director of Public and Population Health for AcademyHealth,” and we hope that the insights from this series of roundtables and interviews will inform a sustainable framework for the future.”

To learn more about the Economic Impacts Project, please contact Erica Malik at erica.malik@thevalueinitiative.org.

This project is partially funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EASCS-24272).

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About IVI
Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit research organization dedicated to advancing the science and improving the practice of value assessment through development of novel methods and the creation and application of enhanced value assessment models to support local decision-making needs in healthcare.

About AcademyHealth
AcademyHealth, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a national professional organization serving the fields of health services and policy research and the professionals who produce and use this important work. Together with our members, we offer programs and services that support the development and use of rigorous, relevant and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to promote equity, and to improve health.