With ISPOR Europe taking place next week in Vienna, the YHEC team is putting the final touches on our panel and posters. ISPOR is always a calendar highlight for us, providing an invaluable opportunity to present cutting-edge research across health technology assessment (HTA) and health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), while connecting with global academic partners, industry leaders and policymakers.

Ahead of this year’s conference, Stuart Mealing, Director of Pharmaceutical Consulting at YHEC, took time to reflect on YHEC’s evolving presence at ISPOR, key milestones from recent meetings, and what makes the conference such a vital gathering for the health economics community.

Reflections on the Evolution of HEOR

Having attended ISPOR for many years, Stuart has seen the conference expand in both scale and subject scope. Beyond the size of the event, its true value lies in how key topics mature over time.

Q: Looking back at past ISPOR conferences (such as Barcelona or Glasgow), what has been a stand-out highlight or favourite memory for you?

Stuart: “ISPOR always brings a lot of thoughts into my head every year. Firstly, there is the sheer size of it, and this makes me realise that while I work in a fairly niche industry, there are a lot of us working in the field! It’s also the place where I catch up with old colleagues and friends as well as having good conversations with clients old and new. The networking and social side of ISPOR is something that definitely brings me back every year. Looking back, I have very happy memories of watching staff who are earlier in their careers give their first podium presentations at a major conference, with the two most recent being Sarah Medland in Copenhagen and Neil Hansell in Barcelona (and also that Neil scooped the ‘New Investigator Award’).

Q: How have you seen the key themes at ISPOR evolve over the years you’ve been attending?

Stuart: “Over the years, there have been ‘hot topics’ that have come and gone, but real-world evidence (RWE) is a topic that has stuck around. It has been interesting to see RWE evolve from a niche area, discussed on posters and the occasional podium, to being the topic of plenary talks and, it felt at times, 50% of everything presented! The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in HTA is following a similar trajectory as RWE and feels like the single topic of discussion at conferences I’ve been attending in 2025 and 2026 (not just ISPOR). Having worked in HTA for a while, it has been interesting to watch the evolution of the Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) process. This process has gone from the relatively obscure EUnetHTA CORE model to a major piece of EU law and a key area of interest within the pharma industry.”

Driving Methodological Advancement: YHEC’s Contributions

Every ISPOR conference brings fresh perspectives and discussions. Across recent meetings, from Barcelona to Glasgow, YHEC’s research and workshop contributions have focused on solving practical challenges and pushing HTA methodologies forward.

1.    Environmental sustainability in healthcare

• Life-cycle and carbon foot-printing: YHEC has been at the forefront of introducing environmental impact considerations into economic evaluation. At ISPOR Europe in Barcelona, YHEC delivered workshops and posters examining how life-cycle environmental modelling and carbon foot-printing can be integrated into traditional HTA cost-effectiveness frameworks.
• Global collaborations: Led by Senior Research Consultant Melissa Pegg, YHEC participated in panels addressing how sustainability should be factored into the evaluation of health interventions, particularly as healthcare systems face growing challenges from climate change. These discussions highlighted key initiatives, including the Sustainable Markets Initiative Health System Task Force (SMI-HSTF), the Sustainable Health Coalition (SHC), and the Environmental Sustainability in HTA Working Group (ESHTA).

2.    Methodological rigour and standardisation

• Guideline consistency: YHEC’s research on “A Call for Standardisation: Navigating the Inconsistency in European HTA Pharmacoeconomic Guideline Reporting” highlighted practical solutions for navigating fragmented HTA requirements across Europe.
• Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis (DCEA): Expanding our reach beyond the annual congress, YHEC partnered with ISPOR to deliver an official training course on DCEA. Led by YHEC experts, the session demonstrated how DCEA can practically quantify health inequality trade-offs in decision-making.

For YHEC, ISPOR is also an essential stage for celebrating staff presenting and displaying their research and exchanging ideas, as reflected on by Stuart.

Q: How has your experience been presenting research and engaging with attendees at ISPOR over the years?

Stuart: “My experience presenting YHEC research at ISPOR Europe has always been uniformly a good one, regardless of presentation method. The workshops and issues panels I’ve spoken at have always been well attended, and the questions from the floor thoughtful and relevant. Watching my colleagues on stage has led me to the conclusion that whether the topic is pragmatic, researcher-led AI integration into literature reviews, operationalising environmental sustainability into HTA, patient-reported outcomes or patient centred collaboration or JCA preparation, the level of engagement is the same, which speaks to the high calibre of people who attend ISPOR every year.

The poster halls seem to grow with each conference, and I look to have several posters to present at each meeting. The one in Glasgow last year was truly enormous! ‘Presenter hour’ is always a really fun and engaging time because people do come and ask questions about the research I’m presenting, and I’ve had some excellent conversations (and spin-off projects) off the back of these conversations.”

Looking Ahead to Vienna

As the team prepares for ISPOR Europe in Vienna, discussions are set to shift toward the real-world implementation of recent policy changes.

Q: What key topics or discussions are you most looking forward to exploring with colleagues and clients in Vienna this year?

Stuart: “Now that we are seeing actual output from the JCA process, I think there will be a lot of conversations around this and the implications for future submissions. In particular, I’m interested in hearing people’s thoughts on the submissions that were discontinued. I’m also expecting to have a lot of conversations on, and learning a lot more about, how the Most Favoured Nation agreements are impacting clients in Europe.”

We are bringing a full programme of research and insights to Vienna this year. Between our panel on Integrating Environmental Sustainability into HTA: Global Policy Archetypes and Future Directions for Access Decision-Making, developing 18 posters, and our dedicated team on the exhibition floor, there will be plenty of opportunities to meet. We’d love to connect! Come visit us at Booth 719 or drop us a message ahead of time to arrange a chat. Check out our full conference schedule.