Rotterdam, The Netherlands was the site of this year’s ISPOR European Congress. Over 850 international professionals attended the ISPOR 5th Annual European Congress at de Doelen Congress Center, November 3-5, 2002. This year’s figures reflect an increase of 25% over last year.
 

5th European Congress gets underway
	ISPOR establishes itself at De Doelen Congress Center

Sunday, 3 November 2002

	Presidential Welcome, Congress Introduction and First Plenary Session, (l-r), C. Daniel Mullins PhD, Mickael Lothgren PhD, Bengt Jönsson PhD, Frans Rutten PhD
Bengt Jönsson PhD, Plenary Session Moderator 2002-2003 ISPOR President Peter Davey MD, FRCP Daniel Mullins PhD, Plenary Session Speaker ISPOR 5th European Congress Chairman Frans Rutten PhD

After the pre-Congress ISPOR Short Courses, Peter Davey MD, FRCP, 2002-2003 ISPOR President & Head of Pharmacoeconomics, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK, gave a welcome to all the meeting attendees. He was then followed by program chair Frans Rutten PhD, Professor of Health Economics, iMTA, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, who gave the introduction and Congress objectives. The First Plenary Session, “The Societal Benefits And Costs Of The 4th Hurdle: The European Experience” followed, and was moderated by Bengt Jönsson PhD, Professor, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden. Léon J S Wever LLM, Director, Department of Pharmaceutical Affairs and Medical Technology, Ministry of Health, The Hague, The Netherlands, followed to present “The Government’s Perspective”. Next, Mickael Lothgren PhD, European Health Outcomes Research, Eli Lilly & Co Ltd, Windlesham, UK, presented “The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Perspective.” The final speaker, C. Daniel Mullins PhD, Associate Professor, University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA, discussed the “Evidence of the Impact on the Pharmaceutical Industry”. The session ended with a panel discussion.

After a half-hour break, concurrent ISPOR Forums were held. Paul Kind Mphil, Senior Research Fellow, University of York, Centre for Health Economics, York, UK, moderated the Quality of Life Forum, “Summary Measures of Population Health Status – World Health Organization Initiatives.” Speakers included Pennifer Erickson Phd, Co-founder, O.L.G.A., State College, PA, USA, who spoke on “Policy Implications of Using Population Health Measures;” speaker Diane Jacqueline Wild MSc, Partner, Oxford Outcomes, Oxford, UK, spoke on the topic, “Using Population Health Status Measures in Clinical Studies: Informational and International Implications;” and Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray, Executive Director, Evidence and Information for Policy, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, spoke on “The World Health Organization Measurement of Population Health Initiative”. Panel and audience discussions followed.

The Medical Device & Diagnostics Forum, “Basing Medical Devices and Diagnostic Reimbursement Policies on Economic and Clinical Information: How to Incorporate Total Healthcare Costs and Outcomes,” coordinated by the ISPOR European Medical Device and Diagnostic Council, was moderated by Markus Siebert MSc, Business Area Director – Economic Affairs, Eucomed, Brussels, Belgium. Speakers included Rod Taylor PhD, Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, who spoke on the topic of “Total Healthcare Costs and Outcomes: Thoughts on the 5th and 6th Hurdle on the Way to Coverage of Medical Technology,” Dr. Jose A Valverde, Director, Agencia de Evaluacion de Tecnologias Sanitarias de Andalucia (Spanish Agency for Health Technology Assessment), Seville, Spain, who spoke on the topic of “Systematic Assessment of Health Technologies, Outcomes Research, and Technological Competitiveness: A Conceptual Model for Transparent ‘Rules of the Game’ as a Basis for Reimbursement Policies in Health Care Systems,” Arne Heissel PhD, Health Outcomes Manager-Europe, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Norderstedt, Germany, as well as Brigitte Casteels, Therapy Access Manager-Neurological Division, Medtronic Europe SA, Suisse, Belgium, who spoke on “The Impact of ‘Silo’ Budgets on health System Performance: The Industry Experience.”

The Central & Eastern European Forum, “The Methods of Drug Reimbursement in Central and European Countries,” was coordinated by the ISPOR Central & Eastern European Special Interest Group, and was moderated by Pawel Sztwiertnia, Deputy Director, Public Sector Financing Department, Ministry of Finance, Warsaw, Poland.
 

The ISPOR Institutional Council Commissioned Paper Task Force coordinated the forum, “Incorporating Total Healthcare Costs and Outcomes in Drug Reimbursement Policies in Europe,” with moderator Adrian Towse MA, Mphil, Director, Office of Health Economics, London, UK, and speakers Alistair McGuire PhD, City University London, London, UK; Vittorio Mapelli, Istituto di Economia Sanitaria, Milan, Italy; Marc Koopmanschap PhD, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Wolfgang Greiner PhD, University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany; J.-Matthias Graf von der Schulenburg PhD, University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany; Claude Le Pen PhD, CLP Sante, Paris, France.
 

Issues Panel: Measuring Indirect costs: Relevant to Decision Makers? (l-r) Speakers: John Hutton BSc, BPhil, Rob Balthussen PhD, Werner Browner PhD, Peter Walquist MSc

Adrian Towse MA, Mphil, Second Plenary Session Moderator Cher Beilfuss PharmD, ISPOR Student Council Chair Lieven Annemans PhD, MMan, MSc, Short Course Faculty

The Exhibitors’ Open House Reception was sponsored by AEGISnet, with concurrent Contributed Poster Presentations. The Student Welcome Reception followed, with an introduction to the Student Network by, Zeba M. Khan RPh, PhD, ISPOR Student Network Advisor & Senior Manager, GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, and Cher Beilfuss PharmD, 2002-2003 ISPOR Student Network & Student Council, Chair, and Pharmacoeconomics Fellow, Pfizer, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Monday, 4 November 2002
The morning began with the Second Plenary Session, “Integrating Economic Arguments in Health Policy,” moderated by Frans Rutten PhD, ISPOR Annual European Congress Chair & Professor of Health Economics, iMTA, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Adrian Towse MA, Mphil, Director, Office of Health Economics, London, UK, presented “Risk-sharing Between Payer and Producer,” Martin Buxton PhD, Professor, Health Economics Research, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK presented “Cost-effectiveness and Guidance,” and Jan Busschbach PhD, Senior Investigator, Department of Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands & The Therapeutic Center “De Viersprong,” Halsteren, The Netherlands discussed “Reconciliation of Economic Arguments and Clinical Practice.”

Following a short 15-minute coffee break, sponsored by Caro Research, the Contributed Podium Presentations were held in four concurrent sessions covering the topics of Cancer Studies, Cardiovascular Diseases/Disorders Studies, Infectious Disease Studies I, and Women’s Health/Diabetes Studies in Session I. After a 15-minute break, Session II featured Pharmacoeconomic/Health Economic, Quality- of-Life, Outcomes Research Methodology Issues, Health Policy, Adherence and Health Utility Studies I.

Four concurrent Issues Panels followed Lunch, Exhibits and Contributed Poster Presentations – Session I. “The Burden of the Reimbursement Hurdle,” was moderated by Michael Drummond PhD, Director, University of York, Centre for Health Economics, York, UK, with panelists Bengt Jönsson PhD, Professor, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden; Taina Irene Sirkia PhD (Pharm), General Secretary, Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board, Valtioneuvosto, Finland; Harry Kleintjens MBA, Senior Manager, Lilly Netherlands BV, Houten, The Netherlands; Carlos Gouveia Pinto PhD, Associate Professor, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal; “Criteria for Reimbursement Decisions,” was moderated by Christopher Evans, PhD, Project Director, Mapi Values, Boston, MA, USA, with panelists: Lorenzo Mantovani EconD, MSc, DSc, Head of Research, Center of Pharmacoeconomics, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Manouche Tavakoli PhD, Director of Pharmacoeconomic Research Center, University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, UK and Wil GM Toenders, The Dutch National Health Insurance Council, Amstelveen, The Netherlands; “Measuring Indirect Costs: Relevant to Decision-Makers?” was moderated by Werner Brouwer, PhD, Senior Researcher, iMTA, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with panelists Robert Balthussen, PhD, WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, and John Hutton BSc, Bphil, Vice President of Operations, MEDTAP International, London, United Kingdom and Peter Wahlqvist MSc, Health Economist, AstraZeneca R&D, Moldal, Sweden; and “Bayesian Statistics: Barriers to Acceptance by Decision-Makers,” moderated by Bryan Luce PhD, MBA, Senior Research Leader and CEO, MEDTAP International, Bethesda, MD, USA, with panelists Martin J. Buxton PhD, Director, Health Economics Research Group, Brunel University, Middlesex, UK, and Tony O'Hagan BBc, PhD, Professor of Statistics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
After a half-hour break, Concurrent Contributed Workshop Presentations were held in eight sessions in four categories, including Outcomes Research Methodology Issues, Cost Study Issues, Quality of Life Study Issues, and Policy Development Issues.
 

Issues Panel: Why Should Physicians Be Interested in Economic Evaluations? (l-r) Speakers: Peter Davey MD, FRCP, Pamela Chavis MD, Teus van Barneveld PhD, Pierre Marie Llorca MD

Two popular evening events ended the second day of the ISPOR 5th European Congress: The Exhibitors’ Wine and Cheese Reception sponsored by MEDTAP, and the Contributed Poster Presentations – Session II.

Tuesday, 5 November 2002
The 3rd day of the Congress started with the Third Plenary Session. Hubert G.M. Leufkens PhD, Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology, Utrecht Institute Inc., Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, moderated “From Promises of Clinical Trials to Reality”. Speakers included John Urquhart MD, Professor of Pharma-
coepidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands, who spoke on “Empirical Evidence on Compliance,” Jacques LeLorier MD, PhD, FRCPC, Chief, Pharmacocpidemiology & Pharmacoeconomy Research Unit, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, who presented “Empirical Evidence on Persistence,” and Dr. Ron Herings, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, who presented “The Influence of Side-effects on Effectiveness.” The three talks were then followed by a panel discussion.

After a brief break, Concurrent Podium Presentations in four topics held on Infectious Disease Studies II, Migraine/ COPD Studies, Other Diseases/Disorders Studies, and Inpatient-Related Studies followed by a short break. The Concurrent Podium Presentations which followed were Outcomes Research Methodology Issues II, Cross-Cultural Outcomes Research Studies, Health Utility Studies II, and Willingness to Pay Studies.

At 13:00, the ISPOR Awards Ceremony took place, where contributed poster presentations received awards in general, new investigator, and student categories.
 

	Third Plenary Session: (l-r) Speakers: Jacques LeLorier MD, PhD, FRCPC, John Urquhart MD, Ron M.C. Herings PhD
Wolfgang Griener PhD, Podium Presenter Jaime Caro MD Workshop  Instructor

After lunch, four Concurrent Issues Panels were held. “From Efficacy to Effectiveness,” was moderated by Hubert G.M. Leufkens, PhD, Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology, Utrecht, The Netherlands, with panelists: John Urquhart MD, FRCP (Edin), Professor of Pharmacoepidmiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Daniel M Huse MA, Senior Research Scientist, Innovus Research Inc., Medford, MA, USA; Thomas R Einarson, Associate Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto and Vice President of Scientific Affairs, PharmIdeas Inc., Oakville, ON, Canada; “Discounting and Actual Time Preference in Society,” was moderated by John Cairns, MA, Mphil, Reader, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK, with panelist: Werner Brouwer MSc, Researcher, Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; “Re-assessment of Reimbursement Status Using Outcomes Research,” was moderated by Lieven Annemans, PhD, Mman, MSc, Director, HEDM and Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, with panelists: Ralph Crott PhD, MPH, Coordinator-Health Economics Unit, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Brussels, Belgium; Jens Grueger PhD, Head of Health Economics Department, Novartis Pharmaceuticals AG, Basel, Switzerland; Frans Rutten PhD, Professor of Health Economics and Medical Technology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Dr Colleen Metge, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada and “Why Should Physicians be Interested in Economic Evaluations?” was moderated by Peter Davey, MD, FRCP, Head of Pharmacoeconomics, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, with panelist: Pamela Chavis MD, Associate Professor, Medical College of Virginia, Department of Ophthalmology, Crozier, Virginia, USA and Teus Van Barneveld, CBO, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Following the panel discussions, Concurrent Contributed Workshop Presentations were held in 8 sessions in four categories of Outcomes Research Methodology Issues, Cost Study Issues, Quality of Life Issues, and Policy Development Issues. The ISPOR 5th Annual European Congress adjourned at approximately 16.00.

  Issues Index | 2002 Issues Index