–New members bring expertise in broad range of perspectives, including patient advocacy, health policy, economics, and clinical practice–
BOSTON, March 18, 2019 – The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has appointed new members to each of its three independent evidence appraisal councils: the California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF), the Midwest Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (Midwest CEPAC), and the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (New England CEPAC).
“Weighing the value of a medical intervention is a multi-faceted process, spanning comparative clinical effectiveness, long-term cost-effectiveness, as well as broader contextual considerations that are harder to quantify,” noted Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc, President of ICER. “Our independent evidence appraisal councils play a vital role in ICER’s work, representing an open, transparent forum to receive input from patients, clinical experts, and other stakeholders, and then to deliberate and vote on the evidence regarding a treatment’s net health benefit and economic value for patients and the health system. The discussions during each of ICER’s public meetings reflect the dedication, thoughtfulness, and rigor of each member of these councils, and we look forward to the perspectives that this year’s distinguished new members will add.”
The new members join the councils of regionally-based experts who represent a broad range of perspectives including medical ethics, patient advocacy and engagement, outcomes research, health economics, technology assessment, and clinical practice. Council members are chosen based on their expertise in reviewing and applying medical evidence in a variety of contexts and are not selected based on their specific expertise in a given clinical area. All members must meet strict conflict of interest criteria to participate in ICER’s meetings.
The newest members of each of the panels include:
CTAF
Neal Kohatsu, MD, MPH, FACPM
Population Health Consultant
Kohatsu Consulting
Richard Seiden, JD
Patient Advocate
Retired Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP
Midwest CEPAC
Nicholas Bagley, JD
Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
Bijan Borah, PhD
Professor of Health Services Research, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science;
Director, Economic Evaluation Service, Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery
Kurt Vanden Bosch, PharmD
System Formulary Manager
St. Luke Health System
New England CEPAC
Jason Schwartz, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management
Yale School of Public Health
Greg Low, RPh, PhD
Program Director, MGPO Pharmacy Quality and Utilization Program
Massachusetts General Hospital
Leslie Ochs, PharmD, PhD, MPH
Vice Chair, Department of Pharmacy Practice
University of New England
Visit ICER’s website to find biographies for each new and existing member of CTAF, Midwest CEPAC, or New England CEPAC, as well as information on each program’s upcoming meetings.
About ICER
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is an independent non-profit research institute that produces reports analyzing the evidence on the effectiveness and value of drugs and other medical services. ICER’s reports include evidence-based calculations of prices for new drugs that accurately reflect the degree of improvement expected in long-term patient outcomes, while also highlighting price levels that might contribute to unaffordable short-term cost growth for the overall health care system.
ICER’s reports incorporate extensive input from all stakeholders and are the subject of public hearings through three core programs: the California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF), the Midwest Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (Midwest CEPAC), and the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (New England CEPAC). These independent panels review ICER’s reports at public meetings to deliberate on the evidence and develop recommendations for how patients, clinicians, insurers, and policymakers can improve the quality and value of health care. For more information about ICER, please visit ICER’s website.