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The Evidence Base Post

ISPOR 2025: first look at the conference program

  • The Evidence Base
Banner for ISPOR 2025 conference, taking place May 13-16 in Montreal, Canada. The text reads: 'First look at the conference program.' The background features a stylized Glasgow city skyline, and the logos for ISPOR and The Evidence Base are present.

ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research has shared initial details of the upcoming ISPOR 2025 conference, taking place May 13–16, 2025, in Montreal, QC, Canada. 

As part of our ongoing media partnership with ISPOR, we’re offering an early preview of the issue panels, workshops, breakout sessions, and short courses that will shape this year’s discussions. While we await the full program, including details on plenary sessions, educational symposia, and exhibit hall theaters, several key sessions have already been announced. 

Conference theme 

This year, the program committee are centering the program around the theme, “Collaborating to Improve Healthcare Decision Making for All: Expanding HEOR Horizons”. The program will explore the evolving role of health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) in shaping healthcare policy, drug pricing, and patient access worldwide, with major topics including: 

  • Drug price negotiations and policy shifts 
  • The expanding role of HEOR beyond traditional payer assessments 
  • Patient access vs market access, balancing affordability and innovation 
  • AI in healthcare, from evidence generation to decision-making 
  • Whole health and sustainable healthcare models 
  • Evidence generation and the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration 

Program highlights 

Real-world evidence 

Highlighted by ISPOR as the top trend in HEOR research, several sessions will explore standards and enhancing data integrity in real-world evidence (RWE). These include: 

  • "Identifying Gaps and Establishing a Development Plan for Consensus Real-World Data Standards" (moderated by Mitch Higashi, ISPOR, USA) 
  • "Ensuring the Validity of Real-World Evidence Studies: How Much Can You Check the Data Before You Start?" (featuring Melvin “Skip” Olson, Olson Strategies GmbH, Switzerland; Shirley Wang, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA) 
  • "Addressing Information Bias in Electronic Health Records and Claims Data: What Can the Literature Tell Us and How Should We Respond?" (led by Patrick Arena, Aetion, USA) 
  • "Personalizing Race and Ethnicity Data to Improve Real-World Evidence Relevance and Reliability" (including Carla Rodriguez-Watson, Reagan Udall Foundation for the FDA, USA; Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, USA) 
The Inflation Reduction Act and its impact 

Multiple sessions are dedicated to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as its influence on drug pricing, innovation, and market access evolves in 2025. Selected sessions are: 

  • "To What Extent Will the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Impact Innovation and Access to Rare Disease Treatments—Did the IRA Temporarily Spook Industry or Will It Have a Permanent Influence?" (featuring Richard Xie, RA Capital Management, USA; John O'Brien, National Pharmaceutical Council, USA) 
  • "What’s Next? Year 1 Learnings of Evidence Planning for IRA Drug Price Negotiation" (including Peter Neumann, Tufts Medical Center, USA) 
Expanding the scope of HEOR 

Several sessions will address the evolving role of HEOR, moving beyond payer-driven assessments to broader economic and investment considerations: 

  • "HEOR Meets Investing - Why Are Banks and VCs Collaborating With Health Economists?" (featuring Melanie D Whittington, Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, USA; Richard Xie, RA Capital Management, USA) 
  • "Value Flower: How Can We Make It Blossom in Value Assessments?" (Lou Garrison, The Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics (CHOICE) Institute, USA) 
  • "Challenges in the Implementation of Generalized Cost Effectiveness Analysis (GCEA): Debating a Path Forward" (moderated by Meng Li, Tufts Medical Center, USA) 
  • "Value Assessment Is No Longer Just for Payers: Debating How Provider Health Systems Can Leverage HEOR Methods to Inform Decision-Making Under Value-Based Care and Alternative Payment Models" (featuring Jason Shafrin, Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting and Adjunct Professor, University of Southern California, USA) 
Whole health and sustainable healthcare 

Building on the previous conference’s Whole Health theme, these sessions will focus on broadening economic assessments and sustainability considerations. 

  • "New Approaches to Sustainable Healthcare: How Can Environmental Impact Data Contribute to Whole Health?" (moderated by Grace Hampson, Office of Health Economics, UK) 
  • "Collecting Actionable Evidence on the Full Range of Economic Impacts From Patients and Caregivers: Advancing 'Whole Person' HTA" (including Elisabeth Oehrlein, Applied Patient Experience, LLC, USA) 
The rise of generative AI in HEOR 

With the role of AI’s in evidence generation a fast-evolving topic, multiple sessions will be dedicated to its applications and include: 

  • "From Prompting to Policy: The Advances of Generative AI in the Last Year" (with Rachael Fleurence, National Institutes of Health, USA) 
  • "Prompt Engineering: Harnessing Generative AI for HEOR" (moderated by Jag Chhatwal, Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, USA) 
  • AI Agents and Guardrails in HEOR: The Ultimate Solution to GenAI Shortcomings or Just Another Overhyped Tool? (featuring Tim Disher, Sandpiper Analytics, Canada) 

Coverage by The Evidence Base 

As a media partner for ISPOR 2025, The Evidence Base team will be on-site, covering key sessions and engaging with our sponsors. Follow The Evidence Base on LinkedIn to stay updated on our live coverage, insights, and expert interviews from the event. 

For exclusive content, including in-depth analysis and session highlights, register to access our premium content, receive regular updates, and subscribe to our newsletter. 

Partner with The Evidence Base 

Our coverage of ISPOR conferences on our website and social media platforms consistently attracts strong engagement from the HEOR and RWE community. We offer both complimentary and sponsored opportunities for professionals to highlight their expertise, share new research, or provide key takeaways from their sessions. 

If you’re speaking at ISPOR 2025 and would like to further explore your topic via our sponsored opportunities, including session deep dives, expert interviews, interviews, webinars, and more, please reach out to Phil Garner.