Six-Pillar Framework Draws on HEOR Methods to Strengthen Incentive Design, Costing, and Outcomes Measurement
Lawrenceville, NJ, USA—July 13, 2026—Value in Health, the official journal of ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, announced today the publication of an ISPOR Special Task Force Report offering good practice recommendations and a new "IMPACT" framework for integrating health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) methods into value-based healthcare implementation. The report, “Applying Health Economics and Outcomes Research Methods in Value-Based Healthcare Implementation: An ISPOR Special Task Force Report,” was featured in the July 2026 issue of Value in Health.
"As value-based healthcare has grown in popularity at the policy and local level, it has done so independently from the field of health economics and outcomes research,” said author Jens Grueger, PhD, The CHOICE Institute, University of Washington Department of Pharmacy, Seattle, Washington, USA. “However, achieving the goals laid out by value-based healthcare requires robust tools and methodologies, such as those provided by HEOR and implementation science." ISPOR’s Special Task Force on Value-Based Healthcare Implementation was charged with delivering practical guidance on how HEOR tools can advance value-based healthcare implementation worldwide.
The Task Force's analysis surfaced 3 core findings:
- Despite advances in both the value-based healthcare and HEOR fields, the implementation of value-based healthcare remains challenging and subject to heterogeneous experimentation mainly due to variability in how outcomes, costs, and value are defined and measured.
- While the majority of empirical value-based healthcare studies applied some form of HEOR methods (primarily cost analyses), comprehensive economic evaluations were rare. HEOR’s strengths in incentive design, costing methodologies, and outcomes evaluation can advance value-based healthcare implementation. Conversely, value-based healthcare’s focus on patient-centered outcomes can help HEOR evolve toward greater relevance and impact.
- Aligning HEOR and value-based healthcare can foster transparent, evidence-based, and patient-centered healthcare transformation and supporting sustainable, high-value health systems worldwide.
To translate these findings into practice, the Task Force developed the "IMPACT" framework—6 key considerations for incorporating HEOR value assessment methods into value-based healthcare design and implementation. The framework is not a reporting standard or scorecard; rather, it is a practical guide to help practitioners draw on the most relevant HEOR tools for their specific initiatives:
- I — Incentives: HEOR methods can test and calibrate incentive structures for value-based healthcare implementation to improve patient access and resource allocation (eg, alternative payment models, pay-for-performance).
- M — Modeling: HEOR modeling methods in biostatistics and economic evaluation can be used to simulate and test the efficiency of value-based healthcare design prior to implementation to optimize performance.
- P — Patient-Centered: The incorporation of mixed methods in patient-centered outcomes research (eg, comparative effectiveness research) from HEOR can be used to examine that value-based healthcare design is benefiting intended consumers.
- A — Assessment Methods: Assessment methods in HEOR can bring data-driven empiricism to testing the performance of value-based healthcare design in an iterative process to ensure systems are reaching and maintaining their intended goals.
- C — Costing: HEOR methods in costing are thorough and examine economic impact from multiple perspectives to ensure alignment between the provider, payer, and patient.
- T — Transparency: HEOR methods apply empiricism that is transparent, allowing key stakeholders in value-based healthcare design to provide input on their expectations and calibrate systems to achieve goals for sustainable partnerships.
“HEOR provides a robust methodological foundation for value-based healthcare by improving measurement of outcomes, costs, and value across care pathways,” said author Lotte Steuten, PhD, MSc, Office of Health Economics, London, England, United Kingdom. The report concludes that aligning these disciplines can foster transparent, evidence-based, and patient-centered healthcare transformation and support sustainable, high-value health systems worldwide.
About ISPOR’s Special Task Force on Value-Based Healthcare Implementation
The Task Force brought together experts from academia, industry, research organizations, and ISPOR staff across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Contributors included authors from Porto University (Portugal), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy), the Office of Health Economics (United Kingdom), Research for Impact (Singapore), Roche (Switzerland), MSD, and 4 US universities (Washington, Southern California, Texas at Austin, and Miami).
The Task Force's development process combined a targeted literature review of 109 studies, semistructured interviews with 24 international experts, and a structured survey of a 9-member Expert Advisory Board, complemented by feedback from external reviewers and additional input gathered during presentations at ISPOR conferences.
Task Force Objective:
The special task force was assigned to deliver ISPOR guidance on good practices in value-based healthcare implementation, as well as methodological guidance on how to effectively use existing health economics and outcomes research instruments to drive value-based healthcare initiatives forward. This includes:
- Delivering a catalogue of good practices in the use of HEOR methods to assess the impact of value-based healthcare experiments.
- Identifying research opportunities in areas where HEOR methodologies are not sufficiently addressing the needs of value-based healthcare (eg, Integrated Practice Unit formation, continuous process improvements; change management; organizational behavior)
- Developing good practice guidelines for HEOR to support implementation of value-based healthcare (eg, HEOR methods to enable continuous improvement in clinical practice and decision making)
Rationale:
Value-based healthcare promises to realign all healthcare players around common incentives and a commitment to delivering better outcomes that matter to patients at lower cost by addressing waste in clinical care while simultaneously driving better quality and efficiency across the healthcare value chain. To do so requires an evolution in outcomes research as well as the health economic methods used to assess interventions and value-based healthcare policies.
As value-based healthcare expands internationally, it does so in the absence of clear and credible guidance on how to utilize HEOR methods to deliver on the promise of value-based healthcare. There is a need to ensure both the ability of healthcare systems to implement the collection of outcomes that matter to patients and measurement of patient pathway costs as well as enable the consistency and quality of this data for use in health economic research and decision making.
Conversely, as large-scale value-based healthcare policies are adopted around the world, the role that HEOR will play needs to be determined. There is a need for tools and methods to assess the impact of value-based healthcare policies aiming at shifting incentives from volume to value. To do so requires a common understanding of the determinants of value including shared outcome measurement tools. HEOR can play a critical role in identifying those initiatives, which deliver better outcomes and sustainable costs and provide the requisite tools for decision makers to effectively drive healthcare system innovation towards value-based healthcare.
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ABOUT ISPOR
ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR), is an international, multistakeholder, nonprofit dedicated to advancing HEOR excellence to improve decision making for health globally. The Society is the leading source for scientific conferences, peer-reviewed and MEDLINE®-indexed publications, good practices guidance, education, collaboration, and tools/resources in the field.
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ABOUT VALUE IN HEALTH
Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) is an international, indexed journal that publishes original research and health policy articles that advance the field of health economics and outcomes research to help healthcare leaders make evidence-based decisions. The journal’s current impact factor score is 6.0 and its 5-year impact factor score is 5.7. Value in Health is ranked 5th of 124 journals in Health Policy and Services, 12th of 185 journals in Health Care Sciences & Services, and 37th of 617 journals in Economics. Value in Health is a monthly publication that circulates to more than 55,000 readers around the world.
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