Issue Panel Submission Information

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Issue Panel sessions are designed to stimulate real debate on new or controversial topics in health economics and outcomes research or use of outcomes research in healthcare decision making.

• A successful Issue Panel will debate an important and/or timely HEOR issue. Each speaker is expected to provide a different perspective on the issue.
• To assure lively discussion, speakers should be from different institutions and/or work environments.
• All session submissions and presentations must be in English.
• All session submissions and presentations must not promote any product or service.
• Please do not submit duplicate submissions.
• Submitted speakers must present in-person.
• Registration is required for all presenters. Expenses associated with submissions and presentations are the responsibility of the presenter.
• Submitters must agree to disclose AI-Assisted Content in the submission form. Failure to disclose submissions and/or accepted materials may result in its withdrawal from ISPOR. View ISPOR's AI policy.
• Length of session descriptions: 302 words (or 2200 characters), including headers.
• Example of an Issue Panel session proposal submission is available here (downloadable PDF).

ISPOR Diversity Policy

ISPOR is strongly committed to diversity. The Society’s Strategic Plan and core values embrace excellence through encouragement and acceptance of diverse ideas, cultures, and disciplines. Issue Panel submissions are encouraged from all stakeholders and are evaluated based on merit. ISPOR also aims to reflect the diversity of its membership in all endeavors and encourages consideration of diversity in abstract submissions. Diversity dimensions include (but not limited to) gender, career stage, ethnicity, race, education, sexual orientation, region/geographic location, disabilities, and religion. Additional information can be found at the Society’s  Diversity Policy.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Below are instructions to assist with your Issue Panel session proposal. To access the submission portal, you will need to login using your ISPOR web credentials. If you do not have an ISPOR web profile, follow the "Create an Account" link on the ISPOR login page.

 If you have any questions concerning the submission process, please contact conferences@ispor.org or ispor@support.ctimeetingtech.com.

STEP 1: SESSION INFORMATION

• Session Title: You must enter a session title to save your session in our system. Titles are 225 characters max (including spaces). ISPOR reserves the right to modify abstract submissions based on ISPOR style guidelines. Examples:
  • Multi-Indication Pricing: Do We Want It? Can We Operationalize It?
  • Designing a Patient-Centered Value Framework to Guide Shared Decision-Making Oncology: Why, What, and How?
  • Are Existing Health Technology Assessment Requirements Inadequate for Establishing Value for Potentially Transformative Gene Therapies?
• Acknowledgements: Submitting authors/submitters must agree to ISPOR being an in-person only event, and ISPOR’s AI-Assisted Content Disclosure.
• Location: Please select your primary geographical region. If your content applies to multiple regions, select Global/Multiple Regions option.
• Level of Difficulty: Indicate if this session is Introductory, Intermediate, or Advanced in nature:
  • Introductory: Appropriate for individuals new to the topic/subject area
  • Intermediate: Appropriate for individuals who already have a basic understanding of the topic/subject area
  • Advanced: Appropriate for individuals with an in-depth knowledge of the topic/subject area
• Fast Facts: Are you interested in having your session converted into a 30-minute Fast Facts session? Select yes or no from the drop-down menu.

STEP 2: TAXONOMIES AND TOPICS

• Main Taxonomy/Topic: Select ONE of the taxonomy/topics that best describes your session (see next section below).

• Additional Taxonomy/Topic: Select up to TWO additional taxonomy/topic areas that are applicable to your session (see next section below).
  •  These should be different than your primary taxonomy/topic area selected above. If you do not have an additional taxonomy/topic area, please select “Not Applicable.”
• Related ISPOR Track: New this year! ISPOR is piloting a new track at ISPOR Europe 2025: Patient-Centered Evidence. Please select one option from the drop-down menu that best applies to your proposal.
• Patient-Centered Evidence Priority Topics: If your session proposal fits one of the Patient-Centered Evidence track priority topics, please let us know by selecting the applicable topic.

• Patient Engagement: Review the ISPOR definition of patient engagement and determine if your session meets the criteria by choosing yes or no from the drop-down menu.

STEP 3: SESSION DESCRIPTION

• Issue Panel Subject of Debate: A successful issue panel will debate an issue and have multiple perspectives represented by the panelists. Please provide the question which will be the subject of the debate.

• Panelist's Perspective: Panelists should maintain unique perspectives in order to create a true debate. Please provide a short description on what each panelist will debate during the issue panel.
• Example 1: Dr. Doe will discuss challenges in designing a patient-centered value framework, including addressing tensions between the societal and patient perspective. Ms. Roe will represent patient perspectives, offering insights from patient-centered research conducted by CancerCare. She will highlight factors important to cancer patients and approaches to collecting such information in clinical practice to support a customized patient-centered decision tool.
• Example 2: John Doe will argue that the development of open-source models is essential for cost-effectiveness analysis to be viewed as a reliable input to decision making and Jane Roe will argue that the impact on intellectual property rights, model “ownership”, oversite and, consequently, the incentives and resources available to develop and maintain models are prohibitive.
• Issue Panel Description: Issue/Overview: Please enter your issue panel description. There is a 302 word limit (2200 character limit). You will need to insert the headers “Issue” and “Overview” into the textbox.
  • ISSUE: Provide a clear definition of the issue to be presented and debated.
  • OVERVIEW: Provide background information and details on the material to be presented. Include speaker presentation length, e.g., 15 minutes, and state the allotted time to address the audience discussion and debate criterion. It is helpful to include which stakeholders will benefit from attending.

STEP 4: SPEAKER(S)

An issue panel is comprised of a minimum of 2 and maximum of 3 speakers. If accepted, speaker information will be published in conference materials as submitted and can only be modified by ISPOR staff.

• To ensure lively debate, speakers (or panelists) should be from different institutions and/or work environments representing different perspectives on the debate.
• Panelists should present distinct views on the topic.
• Confirm or provide the names, degrees, institutions, city, state, country, email address, and work environment for your speakers.

Follow the steps in cOASIS to search/add your speakers. Each speaker will need an ISPOR profile in order to be added to your abstract. If you cannot find your author using the search fields, please use the create a new ISPOR profile link in the submission form. The ISPOR profile form will open in a new window/tab. Complete the information and close the window/tab to return to your submission and search again.

STEP 5: MODERATOR

An issue panel is comprised of 1 moderator. Moderators maintain communication with presenters and ISPOR staff regarding the development and delivery of the session. Follow the steps in cOASIS to search/add your moderator. 

STEP 6: SUBMITTER

ISPOR collects information on the submission of each session, regardless if they are a speaker/moderator. Follow the steps in cOASIS to search/add your information. 

STEP 7: SUMMARY

Review your submission carefully and fix any incomplete items. If your submission is complete, the submitter will receive an automatic email from ispor@support.ctimeetingtech.com.

When you return to your ISPOR Submission Portal, your submission will be labeled "Complete" (green) or "Incomplete" (yellow). Submitters can revise "Complete" and "Incomplete" submissions at any time before the submission deadline. If you need technical assistance or have questions, contact ispor@support.ctimeetingtech.com or conferences@ispor.org before the submission deadline.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF ISSUE PANELS

Overall, issue panel acceptance is based on the quality of the proposal/debate presented and the topic’s importance for inclusion and discussion in this conference’s scientific program.

Please consider the updated submission criteria when submitting your proposal:

Quality of content

• Educational value of the session
• Timeliness of the topic
• Applicability of content to HEOR practice or principles
• Effectiveness of incorporated active learning strategies
• The information/issue presented are novel or innovative
• Workshop proposals includes examples drawn from multiple sources
• Unbiased content that does not promote a product, service, or organization; abstracts deemed to be promotional will be excluded from consideration

Quality of proposal

• Plans for interactivity between the speakers and audience
• Proposal purpose/issue is clearly defined
• Issue panel proposals have more than one perspective identified
• The background information (included in the overview) is clear and concise

Quality of Speakers

• Expertise/experience of proposed speakers
• Proposed speakers represent diverse backgrounds (gender, geographic, institutional - refer to ISPOR Diversity policy) and perspectives (multiple organizations are represented)