The revised framework comes as a result of ICER’s national call for stakeholder feedback earlier this Summer. The purpose of ICER’s framework is to assess the relative value of certain medical products and services by therapeutic category.

In October, ICER made public 46 of the more than 50 stakeholder comments it received as a result of its national call. At that time, Avalere conducted an analysis of the comments by stakeholder type and content theme. Patient advocacy groups accounted for most of the submissions (35%), followed by manufacturers and trade associations (each representing 24%). In terms of content themes, the most common area of feedback related to patient engagement (78%). Specifically, stakeholders encouraged ICER to create a formal process for collecting patient feedback throughout the assessment process and/or by including more patient representatives in the advisory and voting panels.

Based on our analysis of the comments, we expect that increased patient involvement throughout the assessment process will be incorporated into the updated framework in addition to the following modifications:

• Data Sources: Incorporate more diverse types of data, including observational studies and real-world evidence
• Transparency: Provide greater detail about what the framework does and how ICER reached certain conclusions
• Budget Impact: Update current calculations to better incorporate the value that a drug or treatment may provide and future offsets (e.g., doctors’ visits, hospitalizations)

“In order for any of the frameworks to gain broad acceptance, they must measure outcomes that are meaningful for patients,” said Josh Seidman, senior vice president at Avalere Health. “To address concerns about the absence of patient-centric value frameworks, Avalere and FasterCures have partnered to develop the first Patient-Perspective Value Framework (PPVF).”