Group Discussions are a new, two-part content type for ISPOR events: an on demand, pre-recorded session to be released before the live conference dates, and a follow-up hour-long live discussion during the live conference dates. The expectation for attendees is that they watch the on-demand content before the meeting, and then participate in a live discussion of the on-demand sessions during the conference.

To participate in this group discussion session, please watch the on-demand session titled COVID-19 and Hospital Procurement: The Role of Value Assessment for Medical Devices & Diagnostics in Pandemic Public Health Situations, which is available to conference registrants here. The on-demand session is presented by the ISPOR Medical Devices & Diagnostics Special Interest Group and the leaders of this group will facilitate this networking session.

Preparation for the pandemic, or even subsequent waves of the existing pandemic, raises several related and pressing questions about the role of breadth, scope, and flexibility of value assessment for Medical Devices & Diagnostics. This discussion can help inform the procurement and distribution of critical medical technologies at the local and international level. Related issues and solutions need to be discussed and assessed using an integrated approach of various key stakeholders. Hence the panelists reflect an international WHO perspective, an HTA agency perspective, and academic / health economic perspective, an industry / manufacturer perspective and a health care provider perspective in order to discuss related key issues including: • How healthcare systems can coordinate, globally, to help ensure that healthcare efficiency has the potential to be maintained even in challenging, emergency situations? Who should have an active role on value assessment of new technologies in emergency situations? • How can non-governmental organizations, national governments, and international pan-national bodies help to provide a framework for more efficient decisions and allocations of resources in a pandemic emergency? How should these organizations receive feedback from local procurement? • How can public and private collaborate and co-design solutions to ensure affordability, sustainability and overall resilience? • How to define strategic procurement strategies, based on the creation of a portfolio of reliable suppliers, in order to avoid the lack of critical goods in case of emergency? • What should be the ideal role of the academics and specifically health economists be in similar future contexts? Which role plays value-based healthcare in this context? • How can the industry and policymakers contribute to address these critical questions? Value-based procurement needs an appropriate place in decision making to ensure organizational and health care systems are prepared for subsequent pandemics in a timely manner.