2023 Annual Meeting Wrap-Up

The Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) is pleased to announce the completion of its 2023 4th Annual Meeting. We were thrilled to see our esteemed members, partners, and colleagues participate in so many important discussions.

This year, we featured multiple IVI research initiatives, including the IVI Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) Value Model, the Rare Disease Project, the Health Equity Initiative, and the Economic Impacts Project.

Throughout the day, three themes rose to the top:

• Start with the patient and caregiver.?Nearly every speaker and partner emphasized the importance of collaborating with patients from the outset of any healthcare-related initiative. Dr. Carolyn Clancy from the Veterans Administration proposed that we should ask ourselves and our partners, “Who would you trust?"
• Collaboration is key.?Dr. Rhonda Robinson Beale, Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Mental Health Services for UnitedHealth Group, reminded us of the importance of building connections and listening to people. No one can make these changes to the healthcare system alone.
• Health equity is not just a sideshow, it is the main event.?While we had one specific session focused on health equity and economic impacts, it was clear that we are all wrestling with how to address health equity in health technology assessment (HTA) and in healthcare research. With the release of our new report, Power, People, and Processes, we look forward to working together with you on this central topic.

These themes highlight the ongoing need for improved data that captures the experience and priorities of patients and caregivers. The lack of data will not prevent us from making progress, and we must acknowledge the limitations of any assessment.

These discussions serve as a reminder that the healthcare system is evolving. With the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and the rapid growth of new treatments, we can't talk about patient-centeredness without ensuring that patients are at the center of the health system through ongoing communication and collaboration.

In the next few weeks, we will announce a call for comments on the IVI MDD Value Model. As with previous models, the MDD model will be open-source and available on our website and with downloadable R-code from GitHub. Your feedback will inform our updates, and we will announce a series of research studies using the model. We are looking forward to hearing your suggestions and collaborating with you on this project.

We hope you found the meeting energizing, and for those members who were unable to attend, recordings will be available shortly. There is an incredible amount of important work needed in patient-centered HTA. Thank you for your partnership, and you will hear more from us soon.

Sincerely,

?

Jason Spangler, MD, MPH, FACPM

CEO, Innovation and Value Initiative