ISPOR Europe 2024: Navigating the conference program – focus on health equity

Taking place November 17–20, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, the ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Europe 2024 conference will bring together thousands of attendees from the global health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) community. With a comprehensive, multi-track program, this feature highlights some of the key sessions and research posters focused on health equity.

Selected sessions

Health equity is the ranked fifth in ISPOR's top health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) trends for 2024–2025, reflecting a growing recognition of the need to address disparities in healthcare access, quality, and outcomes. Sessions of interest at the ISPOR Europe 2024 conference include:

Health Equity Research Special Interest Group (Monday November 18, 10:15am – 11:15am)

Members of the ISPOR Health Equity Research Special Interest Group, including Ramiro Gilardino (MSD, Switzerland), Matt Griffiths (Costello Medical, UK) and Melanie Whittington (Managing Director, Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, USA), will explore the current perspectives surrounding health equity considerations in health technology assessment (HTA). They will also update attendees on the SIG’s current and future projects, offering the opportunity for potential new members to get involved, contribute to ongoing initiatives, and help shape the future direction of health equity research within the HEOR community.

Exploring the Broader Impact of Health Technologies on Health Inequalities: Perspectives, Measures, Tradeoffs, Barriers, and Solutions (Tuesday November 19, 10:15am – 11:15am)

Moderator Uwe Siebert (UMIT TIROL, Austria) will lead a panel exploring regional variations in health technology assessment (HTA), with a focus on benefit-harm-cost-equity trade-offs. He will be joined by Michael Urban (MED-EL Hearing Technology GmbH, Austria), Beate Jahn (UMIT TIROL, Austria), Valentina Strammiello (European Patients' Forum, Belgium), and Natalia Kunst (University of York, UK), who will provide diverse perspectives and case examples.

Gender Equity Along the Health Technology Development Pipeline: A Women in HEOR Forum (Tuesday November 19, 3:15pm – 4:15pm)

Olivia Wu (University of Glasgow, UK) will moderate the ISPOR Europe 2024 Women in HEOR Forum, focusing on gender equity in the health technology development pipeline. Speakers include Julia Slejko (University of Maryland, USA), Grammati Sarri (Cytel, UK), and Ipek Özer Stillman (Takeda, USA), who will discuss a range of early-development topics including funding for women's health research, pharmaceutical investments in women’s health products and regulatory policies in gender-appropriate data collection. They will also address later-stage topics, including research on women's access to treatments, guidelines for incorporating women in health research, and representation in clinical trials.

Equity in HTA: Exploring Methods and Their Role in Decision-Making (Wednesday November 20, 8:00am – 9:00am)

In this Workshop, Katharine Louise Cresswell (NICE, UK) will direct the discussions focused on the methods available to address equity in HTA and how these should be considered by HTA agencies. Jeroen P Jansen (University of California, USA), offering the methodologist perspective, will discusses distributional cost-effectiveness analysis (DCEA), with the HTA viewpoint, covering practical and ethical challenges of DCEA, provided by Melanie Whittington. Sandro Gsteiger (F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland) will complete the presentation by providing the industry perspective and exploring the application of equity considerations and DCEA in clinical development programs.

Latest research in health equity

During the Podium Session “Expanding the Definition of Value Through Research” on day three of ISPOR Europe 2024 (Wednesday November 20, 8:00am – 9:00am) attendees will learn about the latest research involving broadening assessments of value by incorporating equity, environment, and disease-specific considerations. Emma Clifton-Brown (Pfizer, UK) will present the research “Incorporating equity into UK decision-making: The need for better equity data for distributional cost-effectiveness analysis” on behalf of co-authors Nishit Dhanji, Jamie Kettle, Catrin Treharne and Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard (Lane Clark & Peacock, UK), Sreeram Ramagopalan (King’s College London, UK) and Henry Edwards (Pfizer, UK). By studying inequalities in breast cancer using an aggregate DCEA, this study found that while population health improved, inequalities worsened, emphasizing the need for better data to evaluate treatment impacts, especially regarding ethnicity.

A second Podium Session on Wednesday November 20 (10:00am – 11:00am) features presentations on methodological approaches for measuring health inequalities. Selected posters to be discussed during the session “Research on Health Inequities” include:

• Quantifying Inequalities Across the Breast Cancer Pathway and Their Impact on Health Outcomes in England – Rachel Russell (Pfizer, UK)
• Consideration of Asylum Seekers, Refugees, and Recent Migrants When Evaluating Health Equity: Towards Leaving No One behind – Kateryna Chepynoga (Parexel, Denmark)
• Measuring Health Inequality Aversion in Canada: An Equity-Efficiency Trade-Off Experiment – Nicolas Iragorri (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Socioeconomic Burden of Major Diseases in Eight Latin American Countries – Malina Müller WifOR, Germany

Further research being presented includes:

• Health Equity and HTA: The HTA Agencies Are Asking for Equity Data, But Are They Using It? – Mary Fletcher-Louis (Trinity Life Sciences, UK; Monday 18, Poster Session 1)
• Payer Perceptions of Health Inequalities in Reimbursement Decision-Making: Results of a Global Survey – Kuldeep Singh (Genesis Research Group, UK; Monday 18, Poster Session 1)
• Unlocking Equitable Access to Revolutionary Cell and Gene Therapies Across EU Member States – Sangeeta Budhia (Parexel, UK; Monday 18, Poster Session 1)
• Mapping the Landscape of Distributional Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: A Systematic Review of Applications and Methodological Considerations – Sreenidhi Venkatesh (Lane Clark & Peacock, London, UK; Monday 18, Poster Session 1)
• A Non-Systematic Review of Equity in Oncology HTA Submissions to NICE – Kathleen Bowes (Genesis Research Group, UK; Monday 18, Poster Session 1)
• Equity Is Not Equal: A Comparative Study of How Equity Is Considered by NICE, ICER, CDA-AMC, and PBAC – Francisco Olivenca (Lane Clark & Peacock, London, UK; Monday 18, Poster Session 2)
• Health Equity Priorities for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers: Payer Perceptions From a Global Survey– Kuldeep Singh (Genesis Research Group, UK; Monday 18, Poster Session 2)
• Fulfilling the Promise of Equity in Value-Based Care: A Focus on the Communication and Use of Health Technology Assessments – Rick Chapman (Center for Innovation & Value Research, USA; Tuesday 19, Poster Session 3)
• Social Determinants of Health and Use of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists in the Pediatric Population – Lawrence Rasouliyan (OMNY Health, USA; Tuesday 19, Poster Session 3)
• Quantifying Health Inequity: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Literature Reviews on Sex-Based Differences in Health Outcomes – Lilia Leisle (Cytel, Germany; Tuesday 19, Poster Session 4)
• Are Global Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Processes Inclusive and Equitable? A Scoping Review – Rebecca Metcalfe (Core Clinical Sciences, Canada; Tuesday 19, Poster Session 4)
• Impact of Social Drivers of Health on Hospitalizations in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder – Christie Teigland (Inovalon, USA ; Tuesday 19, Poster Session 4)
• Inequity in Vaccine Access: Variation in Vaccine Decision-Making Processes Across Five Countries – Stuart Mealing (York Health Economics Consortium, UK); Wednesday 20, Poster Session 5)
• Incorporating Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Into a Screening Tool Using Machine Learning to Predict Lung Cancer Diagnosis – Bianca Jackson (OPEN Health, USA); Wednesday 20, Poster Session 5)

Coverage by The Evidence Base

The Evidence Base will be providing exclusive coverage of ISPOR Europe 2024 (November 17–20, 2024, Barcelona, Spain), providing daily rounds-ups of many of the sessions as well as deep dives into the three plenaries. Register on The Evidence Base and follow us on LinkedIn to make sure you don't miss any of our coverage and to ensure you stay up-to-date with the latest insights and developments from the conference.