Purpose: To demonstrate the impact and utility of accounting for technology diffusion and uncertainty in calculating the affected population for value of information analysis through a case study in advanced biliary tract cancer.
Method: We modified a previously published decision-analytic model to estimate the expected value of perfect information (EVPI) for two treatment strategies in advanced biliary tract cancer: 1) gemcitabine and cisplatin 2) standard care, with all patients receiving gemcitabine alone. The model utilized standard methods to calculate the per-patient EVPI, but incorporated a stochastic method for calculating the population EVPI, representing the uncertainty in the estimated technology lifetime, disease incidence, and technology diffusion rate. Model parameters and uncertainty ranges were derived from the ABC-02 Trial, published literature, and government sources. We used SEER incidence estimates, a 5 to 15% annual diffusion rate, a 5 to 15-year range for technology use, and a willingness-to-pay threshold of $150,000/QALY. We compared three population EVPI estimates, 1) instant technology diffusion (base-case), 2) gradual deterministic diffusion, and 3) gradual diffusion with uncertainty in affected population parameters.
Result: The gemcitabine+cisplatin strategy produced greater net-benefit than standard care in 89% of simulations and the average consequence of selecting the wrong strategy was $7,900. In the base case, the population EVPI for an affected population of 67,000 over a 10-year horizon was $58.2 M. Incorporating a gradual deterministic rate of diffusion changed the estimate to $29.6 M. Finally, incorporating uncertainty provided a credible interval to the population EVPI ($29.6 M; CI: $11.1 to $48.8 M).
Conclusion: This case study demonstrates the potential impact and utility of incorporating a stochastic method for calculating the affected population in value of research analyses relative to the current deterministic standard and its assumptions regarding technology diffusion. This approach builds on standard methods by representing real world uncertainty about the technology lifetime, incidence estimates, and rate of technology diffusion. This approach may be particularly useful when different study designs may lead to different rates of technology diffusion or when there is substantial variation in annual incidence estimates over the lifetime of the technology (e.g. when changing screening/diagnostic practices may lead to variable disease incidence). These methods can also be applied to other value of information analyses (e.g. value of sample information), and can increase the informational yield of such estimations.
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