Society for Medical Decision Making

Session Summary

Value of information (VOI) is a key concept in decision analysis that can be used to determine research priorities, inform resource allocation for potential further research and design proposed research studies. This course will introduce the general concepts behind VOI, present several key VOI measures and highlight where they can be most useful in directing future research. It will also demonstrate key graphical presentations of these measures and critically evaluate VOI analyses and their underlying assumptions.

Description & Objectives:

The purpose of this course is to introduce VOI measures and their use in decision modelling. The course will introduce these measures, discuss their presentation and assumptions. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Interpret the Expected Value of Perfect Information (EVPI)
• Interpret the Expected Value of Perfect Partial Information (EVPPI)
• Interpret the Expected Value of Sample Information (EVSI)
• Interpret the Expected Net Benefit of Sampling (ENBS)
• Discuss key assumptions that impact a VOI analysis

Learning Objectives

• Introduce VOI measures
• use VOI in decision modelling
• discuss VOI presentation and assumptions

Pre-Course Preparation

Participants should have some knowledge of health economic evaluation/decision-analytic modeling and Probabilistic Sensitivity Analysis (PSA).

Time Allocation & Topic Outline

9:00-9:10 Introductions (Ask everyone to introduce themselves)
9:10-9:30 Implementation Decisions
9:30-9:45 Information Decisions
9:45-9:55 Toy Example
9:55-10:10 EVPI
10:10-10:30 EVPI Example (Break)
10:30-11:00 EVPPI Definition and Calculation
11:00-11:20 EVPPI Examples (Break)
11:20-11:40 SAVI + Targeting Research
11:40-12:00 EVSI
12:00-12:30 Practical Application

Faculty Background & Qualifications

Natalia Kunst, Centre for Health Economics, University of York. 

Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, Centers for Health Policy and Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford Health Policy, Centers for Health Policy and Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.

Fernando Alarid-Escudero, Centers for Health Policy and Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford Health Policy, Centers for Health Policy and Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.

Hawre Jalal, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CA. hjalal@uottawa.ca

Faculty members are decision scientist with a broad experience in decision-analytic modeling and value of information analysis. They are members of the Collaborative Network for Value of Invormation, which is a group of over 20 researchers working to improve the calculation, adoption and application of Value of Information methods in clinical and public health research.

COI
Nothing to disclose