Health Preference Research

Mission

To provide leadership to advance the development, implementation and use of health preference research in support of health policy, the development of medical products, and patient care.

Goal

• To foster discussions about known and novel methods to obtain preference information and to analyze health-preference data in support of standards for the use of these methods
• To support early career researchers interested in the field of health preference research through involvement in the SIG activities
• To facilitate the dissemination of good research practices for the methods used to collect and analyze health preferences among the HEOR community
• To identify and highlight ways in which preference evidence can support patient care and health policy and health economics and outcomes research

Background

Scientifically rigorous evidence on priorities and preferences is important in promoting patient-centered drug development, facilitating patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR), informing regulatory benefit-risk analysis, and conducting robust health technology assessment (HTA). Health preference research focuses on the development of instruments and other mechanisms to measure preferences for aspects of health policies, medical products, and patient care. These aspects are systematically evaluated by relevant stakeholders to determine their relative importance. The resulting measures of relative importance offer a unique way to understand the value of health-related initiatives and products. The broad array of methods and the ability to modify them allows their use for any number of research questions.

Leadership

Working Groups

Key Project

Understanding Preference Heterogeneity: A survey of the state of practice

Co-Chairs:

• Marco Boeri, PhD, Senior Research Economist, RTI, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
• Sebastian Heidenreich, MSc, PhD, Patient Preferences - Associate Director, Evidera, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Member Engagement

Webinar Co-Chairs:

• Siu Hing Lo, PhD, Associate Director, Acaster-Lloyd Consulting, London, England, UK
• Eline van Overbeeke, PhD, Health Economics and Outcomes Research Manager, Pfizer, Brussels, Belgium
• Janine A. van Til, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS), University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands

Journal Club Co-Chairs:

• Dr. Riccarda Peters, BSc, MSc, PhD, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
• Dr. Yuan Zhang, MSc, PhD, Part-time Assistant Professor, Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University and Senior Health Economist, Ontario Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Work Products

1. Value in Health article 2020: Health Preference Research in Europe: A Review of Its Use in Marketing Authorization, Reimbursement, and Pricing Decisions—Report of the ISPOR Stated Preference Research Special Interest Group
2. ISPOR Virtual 2020 Workshop 1:  We Are Not All the Same - The State of Practice in Accounting for Preference Heterogeneity
3. ISPOR Europe 2019 Forum:  Health Preference Research Special Interest Group - Choice Defines Value - Decisions, Steps, Obstacles and Outreach in Health Preference Research
4. ISPOR Europe 2018 Workshop 7: Preference Research in HTA Agencies in Europe – A Review of Its Use in Approval, Reimbursement and Pricing

Webinars

1. Supporting Covid19-Related Decision Making with Health Preference Research (February 2021)
2. Why and How to Use Qualitative Research Methods in Conjunction with Discrete Choice Experiments in Health Care (June 2020)

Join this Special Interest Group