ISPOR plays an important role in the effort to increase efficiency, effectiveness and rationality in the use of resources in the health care system in order to improve population health. ISPOR’s activities are aimed at developers of medical technologies and health policy, ministries and departments of health, health economists, health care providers, patients, the population and society as a whole.
The theme of the ISPOR Europe 2018 conference: “New Perspectives for Improving Health Systems in the 21st Century”. The conference discussed a wide range of issues, from the methodology of health technology assessment (hereinafter – HTA), pricing regulation in Europe, and reimbursement to the practical use of study results, real-world data, and patient reports. Participation in the conference made it possible to learn about diverse and innovative programs in the conduct and use of pharmacoeconomics and research results, to share one's own research and ideas with other ISPOR members in an open and objective environment, and to attend training seminars led by recognized leaders in the field. More than 5300 delegates from 80 countries around the world attended the conference.
The Department of Standardization of Medical Services of the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine presented poster reports on the following topics:
- Improving the quality of medical care in hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (Improving the quality of medical care in hypertensive disorders during pregnancy);
- Ways of improving pharmaceutical assistance in Ukraine through the development of pharmaceutist protocols (Improving pharmaceutical care in Ukraine by developing pharmacist protocols);
- Improvement medical care to patients with tuberculosis in Ukraine (Improving medical care for patients with tuberculosis in Ukraine);
- A modern medical knowledge in management of patients with influenza (Modern knowledge on the treatment of patients with influenza);
- HIV/AIDS problem in Ukraine: challenge and achievement (The problem of HIV/AIDS in Ukraine: challenges and achievements).
With the aim of obtaining practical knowledge and exchanging experience on the use of health technology assessment in the development, adaptation, and implementation of clinical guidelines and other medical technological documents created on the principles of evidence-based medicine, as well as overcoming the difficulties and barriers that arise in the process, they attended plenary sessions, training symposia, and parallel sessions, in particular:
Plenary sessions
- Joint assessment of relative effectiveness: “Your money or your life” for decision-makers in EU member states.
The meeting discussed the possibility of joint clinical assessment as a means of providing better clinical evidence to improve decision-making on existing and new medical technologies. Particular attention was paid to HTA methodology and processes among the member states of the European Union (hereinafter – the EU). A stakeholder group of European HTA organizations, European institutions, the pharmaceutical industry, patients, and payers was invited to consider these and other topical issues and to discuss the risks and benefits of joint clinical assessments for moving beyond the status quo in HTA processes in Europe.
- Pharmaceutical pricing: many-faced fairness.
In 2017, the World Health Organization convened the first Fair Pricing Forum to focus attention on the obvious distortion of high prices that limit access to essential medicines and the unpredictability of low prices that leads to shortages of generics. Stakeholders discussed the prospects of current pricing systems and identified the need to create a fairer system for health care, investors and the pharmaceutical industry. Although the definition of fairness and the possibility of achieving it are two separate but related constructs, the main focus of the plenary session was on defining “fairness” in the context of pharmaceutical pricing.
- Budget impact and contingency funds: potential or pitfall?
Many healthcare systems in the EU seek to control the budgetary impact of policy in this area by introducing financial caps and assessing pharmaceutical expenditure relative to gross domestic product. Proponents of budget-capping policies believe that such an approach is promising in terms of cost containment, affordability, and predictability, and consider that these approaches are needed to prevent an impact on other social policy goals. Critics of such policies point out that, although they facilitate financial control in the short term, it is doubtful that this type of macroeconomic course promotes efficiency, the spread of innovation, or proper stimulation of competition. Therefore, during the meeting, particular attention was paid to the impact of a budget-capping strategy on achieving better health outcomes in line with overall social goals.
Training symposia
- How to determine the impact of orphan diseases on quality of life?: new knowledge about spinal muscular atrophy.
- Automation in public health decision-making: what is expected, how does it actually work?
- Reducing payer uncertainty by predicting disease outcomes and determining patient entitlements: fact or fantasy?
Parallel session
- Market access in Central and Eastern Europe: what are the driving forces and challenges?
The session considered the role of HTA and other tools and approaches to assessing the value of medical technologies worldwide and at the local level. The need to adapt HTA as a supporting tool for decision-making in healthcare was emphasized.
Thus, participation in the ISPOR Europe 2018 conference is a significant factor in ensuring the effective work of the Division for Methodological Support of Novel Technologies in Healthcare of the Department of Standardization of Medical Services and other structural units of the healthcare system in performing their functional duties at a modern methodological level.
