• Contributed Issue Panels are designed to stimulate real debate on new or controversial issues in health economic/pharmacoeconomic and outcomes research or use of outcomes research in health care decision making.
• An Issue Panel is composed of a moderator and 2 to 3 panelists.
• To assure lively debate, panelists and/or moderator should be from different institutions and/or work environments representing different perspectives to the debate.
• Panelists should present distinct views about the topic.
• Issue Panel submissions abstracts must be organized as follows:
  • Title: Full title of your Issue Panel (showing the debate issue in the title is recommended)
  • Moderator and/or Contact Person: NName, degrees, position and full contact information for the Moderator of the Issue Panel
  • Panelists: Names, degrees, positions, and full contact information for the Issue Panelists. A maximum of three panelists is suggested. Each panelist should represent a different point of view
  • Issue: A clear definition of the issue should be described indicating the perspectives to be presented (with panelists named for each perspective).
  • Overview: Background information on the issue(s) should be included
• Accepted abstracts are published AS SUBMITTED in the Meeting Program and Schedule of Events.

• Pharmacoeconomic/Health Economic Study Methodology Issues
• Quality of Life/Patient-Reported Outcomes Study Methodology Issues
• Utility (Preference-based) Study Methodology Issues
• Clinical Outcomes (treatment guidelines) Issues
• Health Policy Issues
• Health Care Reimbursement/Coverage Issues
• Health Technology Assessment Issues
• Use Of Health Economic/Pharmacoeconomic Information by Decision Makers Issues
• Medical devices, diagnostics or biotechnology issues

Criteria for Evaluation of the Contributed Issue Panel:

• Is the issue clearly defined?
• Is more than one perspective identified?
• Is the background information (included in the overview) clear and concise?
• Is there time allotted for audience discussion and debate?

Presentation of Contributed Issue Panels:

• All Issue Panels will be 60 minutes.
• 20 minutes of audience participation is required
• An LCD projector screen and microphones will be provided.

Issue Panel Submission Review Process and Notification of Authors:

• Contributed Issue Panel submissions are reviewed by the Issue Panel Chair(s).
• Proposals will be evaluated based on topic, relevance to meeting theme and completeness of information presented based on the criteria given above.
• Authors will be notified no later than February 29, 2008 regarding acceptance and placement in the Meeting Program.