Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications

Comprehensive Graduate Program

Earn Your Degree towards a Career in a High Demand Field

Build your medical writing skills to include evidence assessment and strategies to convey pharmaceutical value to payers, providers and regulators by enrolling in the Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications Program.

Data and blue pen

What is Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications?

A scientific approach to defining value and producing effective, evidence-based writing.

The Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications program is the only online graduate program in the world that develops applied skills to translate clinical, economic and patient-reported data into accurate and compelling communication tools to improve decision-making and health outcomes.

You will learn how to develop communications tools that reflect pharmaceutical value to facilitate informed decision-making, advance patient care and improve health care quality.

Who is this program for?

Evidence Assessment + Effective Communication

The University of Florida offers the only online graduate program that combines a scientific approach to pharmaceutical evidence assessment with effective communications for specific stakeholders. If you are a medical writer who loves science, or a scientist who loves to write, this program is for you.

What are the benefits?

High Demand for Combined Skillset

The exponential growth in outcomes data is driving demand for professionals with this unique combination of skills. Graduates are prepared for roles in the biopharmaceutical industry, medical communications firms, outcomes consultancies and health policy groups.


Selected curriculum topics include:

  • Value propositions
  • Payer communications
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • Data visualization
  • Provider communications
  • Evidence-based storytelling
  • Regulatory compliance

A top education from a top university.

The Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications program is the only online graduate program in the world that develops applied skills to translate clinical, economic and patient-reported data into accurate and compelling communication tools to improve decision-making and health outcomes.


How we’re different from other medical writing and science communication graduate programs:

There are numerous graduate programs that prepare journalists to report on science and medical trends for the lay public or technical audiences. Others develop writers by offering degrees in mass communications or communication strategy. 

Our graduate program is different.

The Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications specialty track is the only comprehensive and applied graduate program, online or in-person, that combines a scientific approach to pharmaceutical evidence assessment with effective communications for specific stakeholders. You will learn how to develop communications tools that reflect pharmaceutical value to facilitate informed decision-making, advance patient care and improve health care quality.

We are not a journalism program. We are:

  • Applied, not theoretical.
  • Focused on payer, provider and regulatory audiences, not patient-facing communications.
  • Heavily concentrated on evidence assessment and data-driven value propositions.
  • Powered by health economics and outcomes research.

Clinical Associate Professor, Graduate Program Director

Laura Happe, Pharm.D., MPH

Laura Happe, Pharm.D., MPH is a nationally-recognized outcomes researcher, pharmacist, and managed care pharmacy expert, as well as current editor-in-chief of the Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy. Dr. Happe has a long history of developing education for professionals who specialize in the communication of pharmaceutical evidence and value. She brings a real-world focus to the virtual classroom, and supports students as they develop knowledge to communicate with a diverse group of stakeholders.

Dr. Happe with blue background

Clinical PRofessor

Randy Hatton, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS

Randy Hatton, Pharm.D., FCCP co-directs the Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications specialty track. Dr. Hatton has 40 years of experience in patient safety and evidence-based pharmacy. He directed the UF Health drug information center for 27 years and staffed the UF Health Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. Dr. Hatton also participated in the North Florida-South Georgia P&T Committee and consults with large third-party payers regarding formulary and drug utilization issues. He has been on the Annals of Pharmacotherapy editorial board for more than three decades and was the Editor-in-Chief for DrugInfoLine for the American Pharmacist Association.

Randy Hatton