HEDS is part of the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield. We undertake research, teaching, training and consultancy on all aspects of health related decision science, with a particular emphasis on health economics, HTA and evidence synthesis.

Wednesday 3 August 2022

New HEDS Discussion Paper - Value-adaptive clinical trial designs for efficient delivery of research – actions, opportunities and challenges for publicly funded trials

New HEDS Discussion Paper - Value-adaptive clinical trial designs for efficient delivery of research – actions, opportunities and challenges for publicly funded trials

Dr Laura Flight is the lead author on a new published HEDS Discussion Paper; 'Value-adaptive clinical trial designs for efficient delivery of research – actions, opportunities and challenges for publicly funded trials'

Image of HEDS Discussion Paper pre print
HEDS Discussion Paper Series

Abstract

Value-adaptive designs are a set of emerging methods for efficient clinical trial design that aim to maximise expected population health for the money being spent. They involve adaptive data collection processes that consider the costs of research, the expected value of information from data collection, and the health technology assessment decisions around cost-effectiveness. 

This topic is important to clinicians practising in publicly funded healthcare systems as they rely on evidence-based treatment strategies that have been shown to be effective in comparison to alternative interventions. Therefore, more efficient, and accurate research studies potentially offered by value-adaptive designs can feed into real decisions and implementation in the care provided by the National Health Service (NHS). Doing so offers the potential to save research costs, to bring the better technology to patients sooner, and to reduce the number of patients randomised into the trial. 

In this article, we review these emerging methodologies, summarise recent methodological advances, and assess the opportunities they offer for improving the efficiency of publicly funded trials. We also discuss the steps that might be taken by funders, clinicians, trial teams, the public and healthcare decision makers to successfully deploy these methods.

Download the publication via our White Rose Open Access Repository

HEDS Discussion Paper Series

Dr Laura Flight