Incorporating Value Framework Assessments in Coverage and Reimbursement Decisions, per Kimberly Westrich | AMCP 2023

Kimberly Westrich, MA, Director of Value & Access Strategy at Xcenda/AmerisourceBergen kicks off AMCP's 2023 annual meeting in San Antonio with her discussion on value framework assessments. Westrich mentioned one of the obstacles payers come across when using value assessment frameworks in decision-making is either not having enough information or having the right kind of information.

When asked if is there a way to simplify these frameworks when it comes to administrative complexity, Westrich said it can be really complicated.

"I think it's natural to want to simplify it. The irony of simplification in this particular situation is that it can actually not serve patient's best interests," she said. "So, patients are different. If you have two patients, and they're both taking the same treatment, they may respond to that treatment differently. So if you're thinking about the value of that treatment to each of those patients, it's going to be a different value to each patient. Now, a simplified value assessment is often, unfortunately, sort of a one size fits all based on a population average, that doesn't actually serve the needs of those individual patients."