OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate the importance of utilizing stakeholder perspectives when developing health economic models in order to ensure patient-centricity and equitable decision-making.

METHODS: A multi-stakeholder advisory group was established to provide guidance on the research, development and dissemination of an open-source value model evaluating the treatments of major depressive disorder (MDD). The advisory group was comprised of 20+ clinicians, health economists, patients, payers, purchasers, and researchers and were continuously engaged throughout each phase of the modelling process and contributed to the design, user interface, parameters, patient preferences and decision contexts. In addition, they provided suggestions for real-world applications and remedied any public comments.

RESULTS: The adoption of stakeholder perspectives into the model over the course of the design allowed for a patient-centric focus capturing complexities pertinent to MDD patients such as disparities, economic burden and societal impact that would otherwise be overlooked in a traditional economic model. The multi-stakeholder advisory group provided an opportunity for feedback during each phase of the model build. This allowed for the external validation of the model design ensuring that it was an equitable tool for decision making not only for clinical and technical users, but also for patients and caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS: Integrating stakeholders’ perspective and their priorities is key to making the open-source model a credible and transparent decision-making tool for evaluating MDD treatment modalities.