It is a world, at least the US corner of it, in which any common understanding of drug value is confused by opposing incentives – to opacity and transparency, to looking at benefit broadly or narrowly, long-term or short-term: value, in short, to whom?

Merck and UnitedHealth's Optum group have partnered to explore various value constructs.

Although stakeholders are interested in value-based models that link a drug’s performance to emerging evidence of improved patient outcomes, such agreements are difficult to implement and too limited in scope to drive a shift to value-based reimbursement. The authors suggest a new, structured approach to bring these contracts into the mainstream, thus transforming product reimbursement and fueling the shift from volume to value.