Newswise — Lawrenceville, NJ—January 10, 2018—ISPOR, the professional society for health economics and outcomes research, announced the establishment of a new advisory council devoted to patient engagement. The formation of the Patient Council reflects the Society’s long-standing commitment to engagement of patient representatives in healthcare research and decision making worldwide. 

The ISPOR Patient Council serves as a platform for dialog and information sharing among the Society’s global patient engagement groups, as an advisory body to the Board of Directors, and as a main contributor to the development and implementation of ISPOR patient initiatives. The Patient Council will be composed of chairs from each of the Society’s Patient Representatives Roundtables (Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia Pacific). 

“After a long commitment to patient engagement, it is exciting that ISPOR’s Board of Directors enthusiastically endorsed additional investment in this area and formed the new Patient Council to facilitate worldwide engagement of patient organizations and the research community,” stated Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Nancy S. Berg. “The Society has long been committed to engaging patients as a key constituency. Sponsoring this new global engagement group takes the dialog and sharing of good practices to a new level. ISPOR is the first research-focused organization to have established formal patient engagement groups in all major geographic regions, and now has an expanded governance structure to support these activities at both global and regional levels.” 

The Society’s other recent investments in this area include the introduction of a patient engagement membership category in 2015, a travel grant program supporting patient representative attendance at ISPOR’s conferences, and a Patient Centered Special Interest Group that has an active working group on Patient Engagement in Research. ISPOR patient engagement members receive special member benefits, including discounted rates for membership and conference registration, among others.

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ABOUT ISPOR

ISPOR, the professional society for health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), is an international, multistakeholder, nonprofit dedicated to advancing HEOR excellence to improve decision making for health globally. The Society is the leading source for scientific conferences, peer-reviewed and MEDLINE®-indexed publications, good practices guidance, education, collaboration, and tools/resources in the field.

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