Social value in healthcare goes beyond clinical effectiveness; it involves understanding the relative importance that people assign to changes in their wellbeing. On this basis, incorporating social value aims to ensure that health technology assessment (HTA) reflects the contribution of medicines to collective wellbeing.
This paradigm shift is supported by a key regulatory development: the forthcoming Royal Decree-Law (RDL) to regulate HTA. The text reinforces this vision by including five non-clinical domains, one of which is “social”.
The REVALORE project aims to carry out a strategic reflection on the integration of social value in the assessment of medicines in Spain, and to establish agreed recommendations for its implementation.
Following an extensive literature review and a structured process of analysis and consensus-building, supported by two expert committees (one technical and one advisory), a set of recommendations was agreed and grouped into four areas of action:
- A social perspective in economic evaluation
- Consideration of social impacts
- Multi-criteria decision-making approaches
- Deliberative processes with social participation
In addition, for successful implementation it is recommended to secure institutional leadership and develop a methodological guide on social value, as well as to follow the proposed roadmap.
