Eliciting preferences for medical devices in South Korea: A discrete choice experiment

This study aims to identify the attributes that contribute to the value of medical devices and quantify the relative importance of them using a discrete choice experiment. Based on a literature review and expert consultation, seven attributes and their levels were identified—severity of disease (2), availability of substitutes (2), improvement in procedure (3), improvement in clinical outcomes (2), increase in survival (2), improvement in quality of life (3), and cost (4). Among 576 hypothetical profiles, optimal choice sets with 20 choices were developed and experts experienced in health technology assessment and reimbursement decision making in South Korea were surveyed. A total of 102 respondents participated in the survey. The results of the random-effect probit model showed that among the seven attributes, six, except for improvement in procedure, had a significant impact on respondents’ choices on medical devices. Respondents were willing to pay the highest amount for devices that provided substantial improvements in quality of life, followed by increased survival, improved clinical outcome, treatment without substitutes, and technology for treating severe diseases. The findings of this experiment will inform decision-makers of the relative importance of the criteria and help them in reimbursement decision making of medical devices.