Health Preference Research

Mission

To improve stated-preference methods, advance their use in healthcare, policy, and outcomes and build consensus on good research practices for these methods

Background

Understanding the priorities and preferences of patients, caregivers, and other stakeholders is central to health economics and outcomes research. Scientifically rigorous evidence on priorities and preferences is now seen as 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).

Stated preferences, also known as contingent valuation, are a means of measuring intangibles, such as a clean environment or good health. These intangibles have value or utility, but cannot be measured using price based models. Stated preference methods include a broad range of survey approaches that can be used to measure non-market priorities and preferences.

Methods such as conjoint analysis, discrete-choice experiments, and best-worst scaling are now commonly applied in health care, outcomes and policy studies. Quantifying or measuring preferences can involve simple intuitive approaches or can involve complex, cutting-edge scientific techniques grounded in advanced decision theories from psychology and economics. The broad array of methods under the stated preference umbrella and the ability to modify them allows their use for any number of research questions.

Leadership

• Karin G.M. Groothuis-Oudshoorn, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Behavioral, Sciences, University of Twente, Department Health Technology and Services, Enschede, Netherlands
• Juan Marcos Gonzalez, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

Working Groups:

Key Project

Stated Preference Research in the European Union

Co-Chairs:

• Axel Mühlbacher, PhD, Professor of Health Economics and Health Care Management, Hochschule Neubrandenburg, Neubrandenburg, Germany
• Kevin Marsh, PhD, Senior Research Scientist and Executive Director, Modeling and Simulation, Evidera, London, England, UK

Member Survey

Co-Chairs:

• Namita Joshi, PhD, Scientist, Patient Reported Outcomes and Real World Evidence/ Data Analytics, Pharmerit International, Bethesda, MD, USA
• Benjamin Craig, PhD, Associate Professor, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

Analysis of Survey Results, Development of SIG Future Activities

Co-Chairs:

• Christine Poulos, PhD, Senior Research Economist, RTI Health Solutions, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

ISPOR Short Course: Use of Stated-preference Research for Structured Shared Decision Making.

Co-Chairs:

• Liana Fraenkel, MD, Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology), Section Chief of Rheumatology, CT Veterans Administration Medical Center, Yale University
• Janine A van Til, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS), University of Twente

Work Products

1. ISPOR Stated Preference Methods SIG Survey Report 2018
2. Patient Preference Methods - A Patient Centered Evaluation Paradigm
3. Understanding Conjoint Analysis Applications in Health

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