Patient Portal FAQs
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ICER’s Approach | Preparing for an ICER Review | What Can I Expect During ICER’s Process? | How Can Patients Contribute?
ICER’s Approach
Why did ICER choose to review a drug for my disease?
ICER has 3 main considerations for choosing a drug review topic: 1) Is the drug likely to receive FDA approval within the next year? 2) Could the drug significantly improve a patient’s life? 3) Does the price of the drug and patient access to the drug have a significant impact on the US health care system?
Why is ICER reviewing a drug before it is approved by the FDA?
As soon as the FDA approves a new drug, the drug developer (manufacturer) chooses a price for it, and insurers start deciding their coverage policies. In order to have the most impact on drug pricing and patient access, ICER needs to start the review before FDA approval and publish the Evidence Report around the time of FDA approval. This early review allows decision makers to have the ICER report as an evidence-based resource at the time of drug pricing and insurance coverage decisions.
Preparing for an ICER Review
How can I connect with other patient groups who have recently participated in an ICER review?
Please contact ICER’s Senior Director of Patient Engagement, Cat Koola Fischer ([email protected]), who can help connect you with other patient groups who have recently engaged in ICER’s drug review process.
Does my patient group need to hire a health economist in order to participate in ICER’s process?
Not at all! As members of the patient community, you are already experts in the lived experience and offer a perspective no other stakeholder can provide. ICER also engages health economists and manufacturers during our process who can provide feedback on the health economic parts of our work. There’s no need to hire a health economist in order to engage with us as a patient group.
More Questions?
Still don’t see your questions? Check out our main FAQs or reach out and ask us anything!
How to Engage
Don’t know where to get started? Check out our Share, Respond, and Participate guides.
Patient Portal Links
Home Page
Who is ICER?
Impact of Patient Engagement
How to Engage with ICER
ICER’s Patient Council
Share Your Patient Story
Patient Guides & Summaries
ICER’s Instagram
What Can I Expect During ICER’s Process?
Will I be compensated for participating in ICER’s process?
ICER is committed to offering fair compensation for patients who participate in time-intensive activities. We provide $100 for patient interviews, $500 for early review of our draft report, and $500 for serving as a patient expert during our public meeting.
How much time does it take to participate in an ICER review?
The time spent engaging with ICER really depends on your capacity as a patient or patient group, and your interest to participate in some or all of the various opportunities. We typically hear that groups spend anywhere from 10-40 hours total across the 9-month review cycle, although some groups report less and others significantly more.
Does ICER provide a patient-friendly version of each report?
Yes, we do! The patient-friendly summary of ICER reports are called ICER Snapshots, and offer a brief summary of the disease background, patient experience, clinical and economic results, limitations, policy recommendations, and impact of patient engagement. Check out our Impact of Patient Engagement page to see examples of recently published ICER Snapshots. Check out our Impact of Patient Engagement page to see examples of recently published ICER Snapsho...
Impact of Patient EngagementHow Can Patients Contribute?
What type of patient input is most helpful / impactful for the ICER report?
Patients can help inform the following: · Outcomes that matter most to them · Impact on quality of life (daily impacts, symptoms of disease, side effects, and burdens of treatment) · Experience with other treatments · Unmet needs · Impact on education, career, and family · Impact on caregiver · Racial/ethnic disparities · Barriers to accessing or affording ...
What are all the different ways I can choose to engage with ICER?
As a patient/caregiver or patient group, you can choose to participate on scoping calls, submit a Share Your Story Form, participate on patient interviews, provide written feedback (public comments), participate on feedback calls, provide early review of deliverables, and participate as a patient expert or oral commenter during the public meeting. Check out our How to Share, How to Respond, and How to Participate guides for more details.
How can I join ICER’s Patient Council?
Please let ICER’s Senior Director of Patient Engagement, Cat Koola Fischer ([email protected]), know if you’re curious about joining ICER’s Patient Council. We start a new term every two years and can keep you in mind when it’s time for the next round of recruitment! Check out ICER’s Patient Council page for more details.