Summarizing Measures of Health Gain and Eliciting Stakeholder Preferences for Them

This project aims to evaluate different methods of assessing the value of prescription drugs, as well as create consensus among diverse stakeholders on the most efficient and equitable measures for the U.S. The first phase of the project will conduct a literature review of the academic and grey literature to summarize the advantages and trade-offs of different approaches to valuing health gains, including quality-adjusted life-years (QALY), health years in total (HYT), equal value of life years gained (evLYG), disability-adjusted life-years (DALY), and valuing a statistical life (VSL) and other clinical effectiveness ratings. They also will provide a description of how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services might feasibly adopt each approach. The second phase of the project will convene a diverse multistakeholder group including patients, caregivers, and clinicians to identify the most relevant presentation of data on costs, health gains, and other measures important for decision-making; rank preferences of measures; and build consensus on the most desirable and equitable approaches. The output will create a foundation for public discussion of the most important measures to convey the benefits, risks, and economic impact of prescription drugs and their pros and cons.