ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, better known as ISPOR (formerly, the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research), is a nonprofit global professional organization in

health economics Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in determining how to improv ...

and

outcomes research Outcomes research is a branch of public health research which studies the end results ( outcomes) of the structure and processes of the health care system on the health and well-being of patients and populations. According to one medical outcomes a ...

. It was founded in 1995 as an international multidisciplinary

professional organization A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and th ...

that advances the policy, science, and practice of

pharmacoeconomics Pharmacoeconomics refers to the scientific discipline that compares the value of one pharmaceutical drug or drug therapy to another. It is a sub-discipline of health economics. A pharmacoeconomic study evaluates the cost (expressed in monetary te ...

(

) and

(the scientific discipline that evaluates the effect of healthcare interventions on patient well-being including clinical, economic, and patient-centered outcomes). The society's mission is to promote health economics and outcomes research to improve decision making for health globally. As of January 2022, the society has 14,000 individual and chapter members from more than countries with a majority in North America (41%) followed by Europe (37%), Asia Pacific (11%), Latin America (5%), Africa & Oceania (4%), and Middle East (2%).

Contributions

ISPOR has contributed to the health economics and outcomes research literature by developing good practices reports for health economics and outcomes research. These reports encompass a wide-array of guidance for research including, real-world evidence, health technology assessment, comparative effectiveness research methods, economic evaluation methods, budget impact analysis, modeling methods, observational study methods-database methods, observational study methods-medication adherence methods, clinical outcomes assessment methods, preference-based methods, risk benefits methods, and use of outcomes research in health care decisions. The society collaborated with the Society for Medical Decision Making to develop a comprehensive list of papers that outline the ideal practice for develop decision analytic models for pharmacoeconomic analysis. The society has also collaborated with the

Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy AMCP (Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy) is a professional organization representing the interests of pharmacists who practice in managed care The term managed care or managed healthcare is used in the United States to describe a group of activi ...

to develop guidelines for training programs and fellowships for future professionals in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research. An increasing number of new pharmaceuticals have used questionnaires to capture

Patient-reported outcome A patient-reported outcome (PRO) is a health outcome directly reported by the patient who experienced it. It stands in contrast to an outcome reported by someone else, such as a physician-reported outcome, a nurse-reported outcome, and so on. PRO m ...

(PROs) of health care as a metric to complement their clinical effectiveness. These PROs require stringent

reliability testing Reliability engineering is a sub-discipline of systems engineering that emphasizes the ability of equipment to function without failure. Reliability describes the ability of a system or component to function under stated conditions for a specifi ...

and validation, necessitating standardization for their development and use. The International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) developed a minimum set of measurement standards to properly use PRO instruments. Moreover, ISPOR developed a set of standards to properly test these instruments for reliability and validity, which has been adopted by the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(FDA). Currently, the FDA refers to the ISPOR Task Force's publications on

content validity In psychometrics, content validity (also known as logical validity) refers to the extent to which a measure represents all facets of a given construct. For example, a depression scale may lack content validity if it only assesses the affective dim ...

for the development of new clinical outcome assessment instruments or tools. In terms of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

research, a recent paper from ISPOR highlights the importance of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) to determine outcomes from the patients' perspective. These measures provide information regarding the patient's symptoms and distress while informing decision-makers about the effectiveness of the treatment strategy. Most importantly, communication between the physician and patient improved once the treatment strategy is PROM-based. In 2019, ISPOR released a series of papers that document how decision makers assess healthcare value. The National Pharmaceutical Council,

Institute for Clinical and Economic Review The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is a Boston-based independent nonprofit organization that seeks to place a value on medical care by providing comprehensive clinical and cost-effectiveness analyses of treatments, tests, and proc ...

, and the

National Health Council The National Health Council (NHC) is a nonprofit association of health organizations. Its members are national health-related organizations, including leading patient advocacy groups such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Assoc ...

have developed value-assessment frameworks to help guide decision makers and stakeholders to value healthcare. ISPOR's value-assessment framework focuses on patient centricity and the use of

cost-effectiveness analysis Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a monetar ...

where the costs of the intervention are compared to standard of care in terms of costs and

quality-adjusted life years The quality-adjusted life year (QALY) is a generic measure of disease burden, including both the quality and the quantity of life lived. It is used in economic evaluation to assess the value of medical interventions. One QALY equates to one year i ...

(QALYs). However criticisms of the use of a QALY-centric approach due to the limitations associated with these metrics have been voiced. Most recently, the society commented on the American Society of Clinical Oncology value framework for new oncology treatment because it did not embrace the use of QALYs. Regardless, QALYs continue to remain an important metric in healthcare decision making and price negotiations. In 2018, ISPOR created a Patient Council that includes patient representatives to advise the advisory board in healthcare research and decision making. Since the passage of the

21st Century Cures Act The 21st Century Cures Act is a United States law enacted by the 114th United States Congress in December 2016 and then signed into law on December 13, 2016. It authorized $6.3 billion in funding, mostly for the National Institutes of Health. The ...

in 2016, the FDA has established the Real World Evidence program to help facilitate the approval process for drugs already approved under 505(c) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA will use recommendations from the ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research and the

International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology The International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) is a society focused on the practice of pharmacoepidemiology. The society was launched officially by Stanley A. Edlavitch, David E. Lilienfeld, and Hugh A. Tilson in 1989 during the Fifth I ...

(ISPE) to develop a set of standards that would use good procedural practices for treatment effectiveness studies, including transparency and reproducibility. ISPOR hosts multipl
conferences, summits, and other events
throughout the year in the North America, Europe, and virtually. On September 29, 2020, the organization held a joint summit with the

on the topic of patient preference information in

medical device A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

regulatory decisions. The event was supported by grants from CVRx Inc.,

Edwards Lifesciences Edwards Lifesciences is an American medical technology company headquartered in Irvine, California, specializing in artificial heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. It developed the SAPIEN transcatheter aortic heart valve made of cow tissue wi ...

and Evidation Health.

Publications

ISPOR is the publisher of the international, peer-reviewed journal '' Value in Health'', which publishes "articles for pharmacoeconomics, health economics, and outcomes research (clinical, economic, and patient-reported outcomes/preference-based research), as well as conceptual and health policy articles that provide valuable information for health care decision-makers, as well as the research community. As the official journal of the society, it provides a forum for researchers, as well as health care decision-makers, to translate outcomes research into health care decisions." The society also publishes '' Value In Health Regional Issues'', which focuses on encouraging and enhancing "the science of pharmacoeconomic/health economic and health outcomes research and its use in health care decisions in Asia, Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and Africa." ''Value in Health'' has an current

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as ...

of 4.748 (in 2019) and is 7th among 102 journals in Health Care Sciences and Services, 5th among 87 journals in Health Policy and Services, and 19th among 371 journals in Economics.

Awards and Accolades

In 2016, Nancy Berg, ISPOR's current CEO, was selected to be part of the 2016 PharmVOICE 100, which recognizes those "inspirational individuals recognized for their positive contributions to the life sciences industry". ISPOR received the “Power of A” Silver Award for its Good Practices for Outcomes Research Reports in 2018. ISPOR is a member of the

, a nonprofit association of health organizations that represents the patient voice.National Health Council. URL: http://www.nationalhealthcouncil.org/about-nhc/members/international-society-pharmacoeconomics-and-outcomes-research-coalition-ispor ccessed: June 11, 2019/ref>

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.ispor.org/ Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Research institutes established in 1995 1995 establishments in New Jersey Non-profit organizations based in New Jersey