Goal
To ensure that good research practices on modeling techniques remain useful for all current modeling techniques as well as to foster the use of model-based results to inform health care decisions, a Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force was created to address (1) advances in modeling, (2) approaches to evaluating variability in models, and (3) transparency in reporting of models. The development of these modeling good research practices is in collaboration with The Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM). The ISPOR Board of Directors approved this initiative March 25, 2010 and the SMDM Board approved May 1, 2010.

Work Product
This ISPOR-SMDM Joint Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force will provide a guidance for: a) delineating the approach and design of modeling studies and the identification and preparation of required data, b) selecting a modeling technique, c) implementing and validating the model, d) addressing uncertainty around model results, e) reporting the modeling study results to assure transparency, and f) using model-based study results to inform decision-making. Since there are multiple issues to be addressed by this Modeling Task Force, and to assure each issue is adequately addressed including defining preferred practices for different modeling techniques, this Task Force will produce several papers (parts) to this Modeling Task Force Report, similar to the papers published in Medical Decision Making, Primer on Medical Decision Analysis Part 1 – Part 5.

• Modeling Good Research Practices - Overview, Issues and Preferred Practices: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force - Part 1.

  This paper will cover the goals of the Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force and issues addressed, as well as a summary of the preferred practices from each of the tutorial papers included in the Task Force Report

• Conceptual Modeling: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force - Part 2.
  This paper will address the issue that the approach to modeling should be based on how the disease works, rather than designed to show the cost-effectiveness of a technology. This paper will develop the conceptual phase of modeling to show the hypothesized linkages between the disease, its impact on the patient and the link with the measures used to capture that impact. In addition, this paper will address good research practices for assembling best evidence for inputs, which may require some degree of statistical modelling of randomized controlled trial or observational datasets. Development of functional relationships and how data availability influences granularity and heterogeneity of a model will be discussed.
• Model Parameter Estimation and Uncertainty: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force Working Group - Part 3.
  This paper will present methods for assessing and reporting parameter estimation (including calibration) and uncertainty in models. In addition to uni-or muli-variate sensitivity analyses, the correlation of input variables will be addressed. In this paper, the use of Bayesian approaches to integrate prior knowledge will be discussed.
• Model Transparency and Validation: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force Working Group - Part 4.
  This paper will address external model validation [versus verification], analyses, documentation, and transparency in reporting of model results. The importance of conceptualization (up front scoping) to ensure that the model addresses the problem will be emphasized. In addition, this paper will describe how results should be presented to be useful to the user.
• State-Transition Modeling: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force - Part 5.
  This paper will review current modeling techniques for state-transition-based modeling (Markov models and others) for both cohort and individual-level (Monte Carlo) state-transition models. It will address issues concerning state-transition modeling and address the key principles of the implementation of cohort simulation and microsimulation in state-transition modeling.
• Modeling Discrete Event Simulation: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force Working Group - Part 6.
  This paper will review techniques for discrete event simulation and address issues around event-based versus state-based technique as well as agent-based modeling.
  
• Dynamic Transmission Modeling: A Report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force - Part 7.

  This paper will review modeling techniques for dynamic transmission modeling, and address issues relevant to these modeling techniques.

Activities
Modeling Good Research Practices - Everything You Need To Know
May 2011 – ISPOR 16th Annual International Meeting, Third Plenary Session, Baltimore, MD, USA

Modeling Good Research Practices (The Good, The Bad, and The Ambiguous)
November 2010 - ISPOR 13th Annual European Congress, Forum Presentation Prague, Czech Republic
October 2010 - 32nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making, Toronto, Canada