New report from the Center for Innovation & Value Research highlights economic burdens in healthcare

The Center’s report highlights how patient journey mapping uncovers hidden healthcare costs, improving research and decision-making on economic burdens faced by patients and caregivers.

The Center for Innovation & Value Research (the Center), a non-profit organization focused on advancing health technology assessment (HTA), has released its latest learning report, “Uncovering the True Cost of Healthcare: Patient Journey Mapping to Inform Economic Impacts”. This report, based on a workshop held in July 2024, is the first in a six-part series under the Patient-Centered Impacts Project, which aims to explore the financial burdens patients and caregivers face throughout their healthcare journeys.

The workshop, attended by over 50 participants, including patients, caregivers, researchers, and other stakeholders, focused on using patient journey mapping to better understand the wide-ranging costs patients encounter. Patient journey mapping is an analytical method that describes the experiences of patients and their families throughout the healthcare process. This approach uncovers often-overlooked economic impacts, such as lost productivity and long-term financial burdens.

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“Healthcare costs go beyond the obvious medical bills. The time patients and caregivers lose navigating the system is a hidden economic burden that needs to be measured and addressed,” said Jason Spangler, CEO of the Center. “Understanding the full patient experience can create more equitable, patient-centered research and ultimately improve healthcare outcomes.”

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Co-led by researchers and individuals with lived experience, the workshop featured personal stories and expert insights to illustrate the importance of journey mapping. Jae Samuel, a cancer patient, shared the financial challenges his family has faced during treatment, while Elisabeth Oehrlein, a researcher with Applied Patient Experience, LLC, highlighted the value of working with patients and caregivers to build accurate journey maps.

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“One can create a rich understanding that goes beyond mere statistics by interweaving personal narratives with economic data.” said one participant, emphasizing the importance of combining qualitative and quantitative insights in this research method.

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Workshop participants discussed how patient journey maps can uncover gaps in healthcare services and reveal costs that researchers, providers, and even patients may overlook. These maps offer various applications, from helping advocates identify areas where patients need more support to informing researchers about the financial impacts of different care methods. Government agencies and healthcare providers can also use these insights to improve care and reduce costs.

The report is part of the Center’s broader mission to ensure that healthcare assessments reflect the real economic pressures faced by patients and caregivers. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Center is dedicated to advancing HTA by developing innovative methods and models that support better decision-making in healthcare.

In conjunction with the release of the report, the Center announced that registration is now open for the second virtual workshop in the series, titled “Time is Money: Capturing Time Effects of Economic Impacts”. This session will explore the total economic impact of healthcare on patients.