OBJECTIVES: The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) conducts 8-12 value assessments annually. These assessments contain various sections summarizing the effectiveness and value of treatments. Since there is limited evidence evaluating which components payers find most influential, we sought to assess payer perceptions on the utility of ICER assessments.

METHODS: We examined data from double-blinded, web-based surveys fielded to payers through Xcenda’s Managed Care Network (MCN) to evaluate perceptions and utilization of value assessments in 2020 (N=47) and 2022 (N=51) and survey data from FormularyDecisions (FD) payer users accessing ICER assessments from 2018 to 2022 (N=3,876). FD users rated the usefulness of assessment sections on a 5-point Likert scale (1=not at all useful to 5=very useful). Results were summarized using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: The components reported as most influential in the MCN surveys were Comparative Clinical Effectiveness (80%), Long-term Cost-effectiveness (53%), Health-Benefit Price Benchmarks (50%), and Potential Budget Impact (43%). They found Policy Implications (23%), Other Benefits and Contextual Considerations (15%), Voting Questions (9%), and Patient Perspectives (1%) less influential and rated these sections as the most unclear or not well-designed. FD users consistently rated all sections at least somewhat useful (4.0), with the most useful sections identified as the Executive Summary (4.6) and the Comparative Clinical Effectiveness (4.5). The lowest-rated sections were comments from payers and manufacturers (4.2 and 4.1, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that ICER value assessments holistically deliver useful information to payers. However, certain sections of ICER’s assessments may provide more utility than others to payers in their decision-making process. The Comparative Clinical Effectiveness section was consistently reported as one of the most influential and useful sections. As ICER’s assessments continue to evolve based on stakeholder feedback, it is recommended to reassess payer perceptions on the influence and utility of each component in the report.