#SharingHEOR: Developing Modern Media for Communication and Dissemination of Health Economics and Outcomes Research

Questions regarding the effectiveness and safety of health interventions and allocation of health care resources are frequently discussed in mainstream and social media. Additionally, government and foundation funders are increasingly mandating that results be disseminated to the lay public and patients may benefit from being able to digest scientific research regarding their health conditions. Therefore, it is important to widely disseminate and clearly communication health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) findings to a range of interested parties. Digital media features such as graphical or visual abstracts, infographics and videos are informative and add value to research articles by improving reader engagement with articles, potentially increasing their impact, and allowing results to be more widely disseminated. However, use of novel digital media for research dissemination has been relatively limited to date. In this article, we discuss the rationale for developing novel media to communicate and disseminate research findings and offer practical advice for doing so. We conclude by outlining a future agenda for research regarding HEOR communication and dissemination.

Transparency in Decision Modelling: What, Why, Who and How?

Transparency in decision modelling is an evolving concept. Recently, discussion has moved from reporting standards to open-source implementation of decision analytic models. However, in the debate about the supposed advantages and disadvantages of greater transparency, there is a lack of definition. The purpose of this article is not to present a case for or against transparency, but rather to provide a more nuanced understanding of what transparency means in the context of decision modelling and how it could be addressed. To this end, we review and summarise the discourse to date, drawing on our collective experience. We outline a taxonomy of the different manifestations of transparency, including reporting standards, reference models, collaboration, model registration, peer review and open-source modelling. Further, we map out the role and incentives for the various stakeholders, including industry, research organisations, publishers and decision makers. We outline the anticipated advantages and disadvantages of greater transparency with respect to each manifestation, as well as the perceived barriers and facilitators to greater transparency. These are considered with respect to the different stakeholders and with reference to issues including intellectual property, legality, standards, quality assurance, code integrity, health technology assessment processes, incentives, funding, software, access and deployment options, data protection and stakeholder engagement. For each manifestation of transparency, we discuss the 'what', 'why', 'who' and 'how'. Specifically, their meaning, why the community might (or might not) wish to embrace them, whose engagement as stakeholders is required and how relevant objectives might be realised. We identify current initiatives aimed to improve transparency to exemplify efforts in current practice and for the future.