Surachat Ngorsuraches, PhD
Patient-Centered Value Assessment Research
Project Summaries
2023 Frontier Award
We will assess the value of therapies for multiple sclerosis using patient-centered multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), with a focus on the perspectives of patients and families in the Deep South. MCDA is a decision-making tool that helps capture and weigh multiple factors important to stakeholders, including nontraditional measures of value. Our team will work with the Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. We hope this study will amplify the often-overlooked patient voices in the Deep South and lead to the application of the patient-centered MCDA in the value assessments of other treatments and interventions in these states and across the country. Read the press release.
2023 Mid-Career Faculty Award: Incorporating Equity Into Health Care Value Assessment
When using patient preferences to assess the value of health care, many studies deploy a personal or self-interest approach. However, patients may have preferences that extend beyond concern for themselves, including equity (e.g., a treatment’s benefits and risks for patients with worse health). In addition, previous studies examining societal preferences on equity vs. efficiency (e.g., cost-effectiveness of a treatment, number of potential beneficiaries) tended to use an impersonal approach that failed to account for individuals’ preferences on these issues. My proposed study will demonstrate a value assessment method that simultaneously captures patient preferences and equity and efficiency considerations. This study will offer a method to rigorously incorporate equity and efficiency considerations in a preference-based value assessment. This type of assessment could help facilitate health care policy decisions that respect the preferences of the affected population while also considering the extent to which the population would be willing to trade efficiency for equity.
2021 Research Award: Measuring the Value of Fear of Contagion in COVID-19 Care
The objective of this study is to obtain a quantitative measure of the value of fear of contagion in COVID-19 care. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) will be conducted. A list of important attributes of COVID-19 medical options – including the possibility of disease exposure and cost – will be obtained from literature, clinical experts, and adults from the general public. The attributes will be used to generate DCE choice sets, which are included in a self-administered, web-based survey. A total of 500 adults with and without COVID-19 infection will be asked to respond to the survey. Statistical analysis based on Random Utility Theory will be used to determine the relative importance between all study attributes and cost. The willingness-to-pay for reducing the possibility of disease exposure will be calculated. Study findings will be applied for value assessments when dealing with not only COVID-19 care but also care for other infectious diseases.The objective of this study is to obtain a quantitative measure of the value of fear of contagion in COVID-19 care. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) will be conducted. A list of important attributes of COVID-19 medical options – including the possibility of disease exposure and cost – will be obtained from literature, clinical experts, and adults from the general public. The attributes will be used to generate DCE choice sets, which are included in a self-administered, web-based survey. A total of 500 adults with and without COVID-19 infection will be asked to respond to the survey. Statistical analysis based on Random Utility Theory will be used to determine the relative importance between all study attributes and cost. The willingness-to-pay for reducing the possibility of disease exposure will be calculated. Study findings will be applied for value assessments when dealing with not only COVID-19 care but also care for other infectious diseases.
2019 Challenge Award: “Using Patient Experience Data and Discrete Choice Experiment to Assess Values of Drugs”
Dr. Ngorsuraches proposed a patient experience value framework that utilizes patient experience data, generated by using FDA guidance, to develop discrete choice experiments (DCEs) to assess the value of drugs and account for heterogeneity of patient preferences. This framework is an approach to value assessment that is more centered on patients and moves beyond the use of the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) metric. He described the application of this framework to assess the value of disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis.
The PhRMA Foundation Value Assessment Research Award provided me an opportunity to assess a new value element. Subsequently, it has helped me achieve my career goal, which is to help patients access effective and preferred medications and health care services.
