To address ongoing changes to the healthcare system and to promote improved patient outcomes, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) has unveiled a comprehensive approach for assessing the value of a specific medical technology or diagnostic test across the spectrum of healthcare stakeholders.
 
Designed for use by multiple healthcare stakeholders—patients, providers, payers, industry, etc.—AdvaMed’s “Value Framework” is intended to drive the discussion of how to objectively determine the value of medical technology and what evidence is necessary to support its use. Given the unique nature of diagnostic tests, AdvaMed and AdvaMedDx are also releasing a separate, complementary framework specifically focused on value assessment for diagnostic tests and technologies. 
 
“The U.S. healthcare system is undergoing rapid change, moving toward a system that puts a premium on value rather than simply reimbursing costs,” said Scott Whitaker, president and CEO, AdvaMed. “But assessing value properly is critical to support continued innovation and medical progress, so that the evolving system can work properly for patients and for society.”
 
“AdvaMed’s Value Frameworks are crucial tools in this process, reflecting the needs of all stakeholders and recognizing the unique features of a wide range of medical technologies,” Whitaker stressed. “It is not a formula for pricing a product, but will inform decisions about how to assess the value of a product in terms not just of its price but its overall cost and benefits.”
 
Developed in collaboration with Deloitte, A Framework for Comprehensive Assessment of Medical Technologies: Defining Value in the New Health Care Ecosystem and A Framework for Comprehensive Assessment of the Value of Diagnostic Tests, are the products of nearly two years research and engagement with stakeholders across the healthcare spectrum to come to a common understanding of what enables effective assessment of value for a medical technology or a diagnostic test.
 
At the heart of these frameworks are four key “value drivers” that are critical to understanding in any assessment of a specific technology:
 

• Clinical impact: The extent of clinical utility and health outcomes associated with the medical technology
• Non-clinical patient impact: The impact on non-medical benefits for the patient (or care giver) such as patient experience and patient economics (e.g., out-of-pocket costs)
• Care delivery revenue and cost impact: The impact of the technology on revenues or costs for a provider or payer via financial incentives associated with care quality metrics, as well as impact on clinical workflow and other sources of operating efficiency
• Public/population impact: The impact of the technology to the healthcare system at large and employers, or society as a whole

 
“These value drivers go beyond traditional clinical efficacy to capture economic impact across all the parts of the healthcare ecosystem, as well as newer patient-focused considerations,” explained Mary Cummins, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, life sciences and healthcare strategy practice. “The drivers take into account how a medical technology can impact care delivery and enable meaningful improvements in effectiveness and efficiency that providers and payers need.”
 
AdvaMed’s Value Frameworks are also intended to be a guide to the kinds of evidence that technology developers should consider generating to present to other stakeholders in order to demonstrate the impact of a technology. It is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach but rather is designed to be flexible, with the understanding that technologies will offer value in different ways under the frameworks’ value drivers.
 
The framework documents are available on AdvaMed’s Value Initiative web page, which includes additional materials focused on the types of evidence for supporting value and case studies demonstrating how the Value Frameworks can be applied to specific medical technologies.