Press Release
Duke-Margolis’ Capital Impact Council Issues New Evidence Quality Framework for Private Investment That Improves Health Care and Health
Washington, DC (February 24, 2026) — The Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy Capital Impact Council (CIC) issued today a new framework that aims to help investors and their partners produce more compelling evidence of health value.
“Health Value Evidence Quality: A Framework to Advance Private Investment That Improves Health Care and Health” builds on the Duke-Margolis CIC initial framework, released in 2025, which focused on aligning health system and investor incentives around private investment that result in a return on investment that measurably advances health value (HV-ROI). The Health Value Evidence Quality (EQ-HV) Framework aims to accelerate development of valid health value evidence, with the goal of high-quality HV-ROI generation becoming a routine, practical element of health care investment.
“The Capital Impact Council’s Health Value-Evidence Quality framework provides important and needed guardrails for the private investment community to build upon and employ as they evaluate the impact their investment is actually having on improved health and health care,” said Dr. Cheryl Pegus, FlyteHealth Chair and CEO, and CIC Co-Chair. “We hope that this framework will help guide and standardize, more reliable outcomes from private investment, transparent measurement of progress, and a clearer signal that private investment in health care improves care and reduces
The Health Value-Evidence Quality (HV-EQ) Framework identifies four stages of evidence quality and demonstrates how an intentional HV-EQ strategy can be incorporated at each stage of an investment’s life cycle. The framework provides 11 examples from CIC members that illustrate the framework’s practical application in health care investments, including:
- American Heart Association Ventures (investor) and Simplifed (portfolio company)
- American Heart Association Ventures (investor) and Sober Sidekick (portfolio company)
- Cylinder and 7Wire
- Echo Health Ventures and Strive Health
- FlyteHealth
- Foodsmart and TPG
- Healthier Capital and Amae Health
- NOCD and 7Wire
- Omada Health and The Cigna Group Ventures
- Thrive Mobile and Frist Cressey Ventures
- Twin Health and Temasek
The authors also identify promising directions to refine the framework and streamline its application in key areas of health care investment through cross-industry collaborations, partnerships with assessment organizations, and by advancing public policies that support health value returns. As part of a broader evidence landscape on health value in private investment, the authors found that especially in light of persistent gaps and questions, private capital investors can take meaningful steps to directly and routinely support their portfolio companies’ efforts to measure health value. These steps reduce long-term risk and increase the ability to impact health care and health:
- define and regularly revisit a core health value question set
- build a forward‑looking evidence strategy
- support and disseminate health value assessment best practices
- increase both the supply of and demand for stronger health value evidence
- collaborate with assessment organizations to clarify health value evidence pathways
- participate in collaborative platforms for evidence generation
“Momentum is growing inside and outside of the private investment community for independent, quality evidence that demonstrates these investments are improving health and health care,” said Dr. Mark McClellan, Director of Duke-Margolis, and CIC Co-Chair. “Private capital investors have increasingly clear and substantial opportunities to support their portfolio companies’ efforts to measure health value. By committing to health value assessment and partnering to strengthen its application, private investors can grow their positive impact on health care.”
Drs. McClellan and Pegus will join members of the CIC in a public, virtual webinar to discuss the HV-EQ framework and the related case studies on Friday, March 6, 2026 from noon to 1:30 pm ET. View the agenda and register here.
Capital Impact Council
- Mark McClellan, Co-Chair, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy
- Cheryl Pegus, Co-Chair, FlyteHealth
- Alex Albert, TPG
- A. Marc Harrison, TowerBrook Healthcare Institute
- Amir Dan Rubin, Healthier Capital
- Amy B. Raimundo, KP Ventures
- Ben Robbins, Google Ventures
- Blake Goodner, Bridger Capital
- Brian Morfitt, Frazier Healthcare Partners
- Craig Cimini, The Cigna Group Ventures
- Gregory Grunberg, Temasek
- Lee Shapiro, 7wire
- Lisa Suennen, American Heart Association Ventures
- Navid Farzad, Frist Cressey Ventures
- Rob Coppedge, Echo Health Ventures
About Duke-Margolis
The mission of the Robert J. Margolis, MD, Institute for Health Policy at Duke University is to improve health, health equity, and the value of health care through practical, innovative, and evidence-based policy solutions. For more information, visit healthpolicy.duke.edu and follow us on LinkedIn
.About the Duke-Margolis Capital Impact Council
The Duke-Margolis Capital Impact Council, co-chaired by FlyteHealth Executive Chair Dr. Cheryl Pegus and Duke-Margolis Director Dr. Mark McClellan, is comprised of mission-aligned venture capital and private equity investors and Duke-Margolis Advisory Board members. The council is dedicated to:
- advancing use of evidence and establishing best practices for achieving measurable health value improvements through private investment in health care.
- driving the impact of private investment in health care to improve the lives of people and communities.
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Contact: Patricia Green
Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy
301.520.6482