ARTHROSCOPIC SURGERY FOR KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS: IMPACT OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN GERMANY

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Fujita-Rohwerder ◽  
Alric Rüther ◽  
Stefan Sauerland
Keyword(s):  
Knee Osteoarthritis ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Meniscal Tear ◽  
Arthroscopic Surgery ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Orthopedic Surgeons ◽  
Community Information

Objectives: This study aims to describe how a negative reimbursement decision—based on the health technology assessment (HTA) report of a nondrug intervention—affects healthcare providers in Germany.Methods: Knee arthroscopy was chosen as an example, because as of April 2016 this procedure is no longer reimbursed for osteoarthritis, but is still covered for other indications, including meniscal lesions. The exclusion followed an HTA report prepared by the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). Here, we examine how the decision to revoke reimbursement for arthroscopy was perceived by the surgical community. Information was collected from official hospital statistics, the internet, and informal interviews with orthopedic surgeons.Results: In 2015, a total of 37,920 arthroscopic procedures were performed for knee osteoarthritis in Germany. Several surgical societies were unhappy with the negative decision, which was issued as a directive in November 2015, and they challenged the decision-making process as well as the underlying scientific evidence. In March 2016, fifteen societies issued joint recommendations on how to differentiate osteoarthritis from other knee diseases and how to document other diseases in a way that inspections by representatives of health insurance funds would not detect any deficiencies. In informal interviews, orthopedic surgeons indicated that miscoding of the principal diagnosis (meniscal tear rather than knee osteoarthritis) is to be expected, especially in the hospital sector.Conclusions: HTA can have a significant impact on the provision of health services, but various loopholes allow physicians to undermine policy decisions. Therefore, it is important to involve all stakeholders in HTA and to convince them of the benefits of evidence-based medicine.

PP206 Health Technology Assessment Guidance In The United Kingdom: Addressing Issues Specific To Medical Devices

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (S1) ◽  
pp. 26-26
Author(s):  
Scott Gibson ◽  
Sita Saunders ◽  
Amanda Hansson Hedblom ◽  
Maximilian Blüher ◽  
Rafael Torrejon Torres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Medical Devices ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Training Costs ◽  
Medical Technologies ◽  
The United Kingdom

IntroductionThe United Kingdom spends approximately GBP4.2 billion (USD5.6 billion; EUR4.7 billion) each year on medical devices, but healthcare providers receive little health technology assessment (HTA) guidance on cost-effective device procurement. Our objective was to assess the availability of HTA guidance for medical technologies and to identify key challenges related to the economic assessment of these technologies.MethodsNational Institute for Health and Care Excellence technology appraisal (TA) and Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme (MTEP) appraisals published online between November 2009 and October 2020 were identified. The “case for adoption” recommendation, type of devices, and critiques of economic analyses for each MTEP appraisal were extracted and categorized.ResultsIn comparison to 415 publicly available TAs for pharmaceuticals, only 45 medical technologies have been appraised through the MTEP. MTEP-submitted technologies can be categorized into diagnostic (7), monitoring (3), prophylaxis (5), therapeutic (28), and other (2). Furthermore, 11 were implants, seven were used by patients, and 27 had provider interaction. Major points of MTEP criticism were a failure to model cost consequences, training costs, and organizational impact. There was also the barrier of transferring costs across budgeting divisions.ConclusionsIn comparison to HTA guidance for pharmaceuticals, there is a dearth of medical device guidance. Therapeutic and implantable devices appear to be disproportionately overrepresented in the MTEP process. This may be because their appraisal is most akin to pharmaceuticals, for which HTA processes are well established. To encourage more HTAs of medical devices, HTA guidance should elaborate on issues specifically related to medical devices.

PP08 Evaluation Of The Brazilian Health Technology Assessment Network

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 38-38
Author(s):  
Cecília Menezes Farinasso ◽  
Dalila Fernandes Gomes ◽  
Betânia Ferreira Leite ◽  
Roberta Borges Silva ◽  
Daniela Fortunato Rêgo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Network Identification

IntroductionThe Brazilian Network for Health Technology Assessment (REBRATS) is a network of collaborating centers and teaching and research institutions, focused on the generation and synthesis of scientific evidence in the field of health technology assessment. Currently, the network is composed of 119 member institutions and mobilizes approximately 1,094 researchers and 4,998 relations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the member institutions of REBRATS.MethodsThe evaluation process was developed in seven stages, including the identification of the objectives of the Network; identification of evaluation criteria; selection of performance indicators for each criterion; identification of the measures appropriate to each indicator; data collection and analysis; classification of the institutions and production of the final report.ResultsThe evaluation of the member institutions of REBRATS mapped the capacity of these institutions to produce health technology assessment activities. The evaluation also provided information on the advances and challenges of health technology assessment in the country. In the long term, the initiative will contribute to the strengthening of the evaluation of health technology in Brazil, since the weaknesses of these institutions in the development of activities were mapped.ConclusionsThe production of this study will contribute to the dissemination of the evaluation methodology at the national and international level. This study is one of the few initiatives that exist in the world on the evaluation of networks and will contribute to the strengthening of the evaluation of health technology in Brazil.

VP47 Health Technology Assessment Of Intensive Care Ventilators For Pediatric Patients

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 168-169
Author(s):  
Francesco Faggiano ◽  
Martina Andellini ◽  
Federico Nocchi ◽  
Carlo Capussotto ◽  
Francesca Sabusco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Economic Evaluation ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Context Analysis ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy

INTRODUCTION:The purpose of the study was to evaluate different type and manufacturers of intensive care ventilators in order to support the healthcare decision-making process about the choice to adopt the best available technology for ventilation of pediatric patient in intensive care units at Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital.METHODS:The technology assessment process was developed by using a new methodology, the Decision-oriented Health Technology Assessment (HTA) (DoHTA), a new implementation of the European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) CoreModel, integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (1). A literature review was carried out to gather evidence on safety and overall effectiveness of different kind of intensive care ventilators, with several ventilation modalities and strategies. The synthesis of scientific evidence, and results of the specific context analysis resulted in the definition of components of the decisional hierarchy structure, consisting in detailed characteristics of the technology's performances covering the aspects on feasibility, safety, efficacy, costs, and organizational and technical characteristics of the technology. A subgroup of these indicators has been included in a checklist form for the evaluation of different type and manufacturers of intensive care ventilators, each of which was tested in three independent runs performed in three different departments. In addition, an economic evaluation was also carried out.RESULTS:Preliminary DoHTA results showed that the domains with the highest impacts within the evaluation are safety and clinical effectiveness (34.8 percent and 25.7 percent, respectively) followed by organizational aspects, technical characteristics of technology and costs and economic evaluation. The final objective is to define the alternatives’ ranking through a comparison between alternative technologies’ performances.CONCLUSIONS:The technology assessment project allowed to identify strengths and limits of the most recent intensive care ventilator’ models in the specific contexts of use by involving all health professionals interested, and eventually identify the best option for the hospital.

scholarly journals Implementing health technology assessment in Kuwait: a qualitative study of perceived barriers and facilitators

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 422-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basshar Darawsheh ◽  
Evi Germeni
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Key Stakeholders

AbstractObjectivesThis study sought to explore main barriers and facilitators to implementing health technology assessment (HTA) in Kuwait from the perspective of key stakeholders.MethodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with ten key stakeholders: seven healthcare providers working at various departments of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health (MOH), and three academics with substantial experience in teaching HTA or related fields. Interviews were conducted face-to-face, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach.ResultsParticipating stakeholders reported several factors that might act as a barrier to building HTA in Kuwait: minimal awareness of HTA, lack of institutional and human capacity, a fragmented healthcare system, poor communication between researchers and policy makers, the country's wealth, politics, as well as data quality, availability, and sharing. Institutionalizing HTA as a politically empowered body, enforcing its recommendation by law, and benefiting from neighboring countries' experiences were suggested as possible ways to move forward.ConclusionStudies exploring the unique challenges that high-income developing countries may face in implementing HTA are still scarce. The results of this study are consistent with evidence coming from other developing countries, while also suggesting that the abundance of financial resources in the country is a double-edged sword; it has the potential to facilitate the development of HTA capacity, but also hinders recognizing the need for it.

OP124 Research Gaps In Health Technology Assessment In Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (S1) ◽  
pp. 47-48
Author(s):  
Erica Ell ◽  
Betânia Leite ◽  
Dalila Gomes ◽  
Daniela Rego ◽  
Lenilson Gonçalvez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Unified Health System ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Rapid Reviews

Introduction:In 2017 the Brazilian Ministry of Health (BMH), through the Department of Science and Technology (DECIT) and in partnership with the Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz (HAOC), financially supported research activities focused on health technology assessment (HTA) on topics deemed important by the BMH. The aim was to help resolve the priority health problems of the Brazilian population and to strengthen the management of the Unified Health System, within the scope of HTA.Methods:A survey of HTA research needs was carried out in all BMH sectors through internal meetings conducted by representatives from each of the sectors. The problems and needs were then discussed, prioritized, and transformed into research lines in a workshop sponsored jointly by DECIT and the HAOC. Following this, a specific public call was made to the HTA community to comment on the prioritized research lines. The submitted research projects were then judged and selected by a committee of experts in the field. The approved projects were contracted, and when the projects were completed the results were presented and discussed by the researchers in a final seminar for representatives of the BMH technical areas.Results:A total of 135 research gaps were identified, of which forty-two lines of research were included in the research call after the prioritization workshop and the search for evidence in the literature. The call involved an amount of BRL one million (USD 280,442), and seventeen research projects were financed, including two systematic reviews, seven rapid reviews, and eight economic evaluations.Conclusions:The promotion of research by the BMH has enabled the search for scientific evidence to support public policies and decision making in health services.

VP144 Health Technology Assessment In Hospitals: Determinants Of Performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 215-215
Author(s):  
Lucrezia Ferrario ◽  
Emanuela Foglia ◽  
Roberta Pagani ◽  
Emanuele Lettieri ◽  
Elisabetta Garagiola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Management Board ◽  
Design Options

INTRODUCTION:While “how to perform” a rigorous Health Technology Assessment (HTA) at the institutional level is well established (1), very little has been experienced for empirically approaching an HTA in hospitals: no scientific evidence is available concerning the correct organizational model, to maximise and to improve the functioning, the performance and the effectiveness of the HTA units (2).This study aims at crystallizing those design options that may positively contribute to the HTA units’ effectiveness (quality) and/or to the efficiency (timely) (3).METHODS:After the collection of qualitative data from ninety-five healthcare professionals by means of ad hoc questionnaires and interviews, a hierarchical sequential linear regression model was conducted to verify the existence of HTA units determinants. Size, multidisciplinary, trust among members, HTA previous skills and organizational support were the variables investigated, determining team performance.RESULTS:A greater size and the presence of different specialities within the working unit positively influenced effectiveness, even if they spent more time to complete the assessment. Trust, previous HTA skills and organizational support played a key role in team performance. Size and previous HTA skills most explained the variance of team effectiveness (R2 = .317; Adjusted R2 = .249). The five investigated variables presented a higher explanatory nature regarding team efficiency (R2 = .246; Adjusted R2 = .165).CONCLUSIONS:The study suggested the creation of multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary HTA units to increase their effectiveness. HTA units should be monitored by the hospital management board, because an excessive increase in multi-disciplinary and size could determine inefficiency. Trust within members and the attendance of HTA training course improve performance. According to these results, the study gave solutions both to the scholars of HTA and to hospitals strategic management boards, paving the way to the determination of a more efficient and effective HTA units composition.

scholarly journals Resource allocation and health technology assessment in Australia: Views from the local level

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisselle Gallego ◽  
Kees van Gool ◽  
Dianne Kelleher
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Objectives:Several studies have shown that a key determinant of successful health technology assessment (HTA) uptake is a clear, fair, and consistent decision-making process for the approval and introduction of health technologies. The aim of this study was to gauge healthcare providers' and managers' perceptions of local level decision making and determine whether these processes offer a conducive environment for HTA. An Area Health Service (AHS) aimed to use the results of this study to help design a new process of technology assessment and decision making.Methods:An online survey was sent to all health service managers and healthcare providers working in one AHS in Sydney, Australia. Questions related to perceptions of current health technology decisions in participants' own institution/facility and opinions on key criteria for successful decision-making processes.Results:Less than a third of participants agreed with the statements that local decision-making processes were appropriate, easy to understand, evidence-based, fair, or consistently applied. Decisions were reportedly largely influenced by total cost considerations as well as by the central state health departments and the Area executive.Conclusions:Although there are renewed initiatives in HTA in Australia, there is a risk that such investments will not be productive unless policy makers also examine the decision-making contexts within which HTA can successfully be implemented. The results of this survey show that this is especially true at the local level and that any HTA initiative should be accompanied by efforts to improve decision-making processes.

scholarly journals The response of clinical medical librarians to the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-17
Author(s):  
Amanda Damasceno de Souza ◽  
Anna Carolina Leite Cota ◽  
Mariana Ribeiro Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Belo Horizonte ◽  
Medical Teams

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world with a large part of the population in lockdown for months. Given the need medical teams have for information, clinical medical librarians have played an important role in searching for the best scientific evidence. The objective of this paper is to describe the role of librarians in Brazil during the pandemic in public and private hospital libraries and in the Health Technology Assessment Service. This is a case study report of the work of clinical medical librarians during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is drawing on experience from three clinical medical librarians acting in the private hospital, philanthropic hospital and Health Technology Assessment Service in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The report describes the activities of clinical librarians in providing clinicians with information on how to care for patients with COVID-19. In Brazil clinical medical librarians play an important role in supporting medical teams by identifying reliable sources of information and assisting with research.

PP089 Health Technology Assessment Of An Automated Compounding Of Parenteral Nutrition

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 112-112
Author(s):  
Francesco Faggiano ◽  
Martina Andellini ◽  
Francesca Sabusco ◽  
Liliana De Vivo ◽  
Pietro Derrico ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parenteral Nutrition ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Automatic System ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Context Analysis ◽  
Study Results

INTRODUCTION:Pediatric parenteral nutrition is mainly used in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and requires close collaboration with the hospital pharmacy, especially for manufacturing time, application, preparation and delivery (1). In this context, a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) to evaluate an automatic system compared with a manual system was carried out.METHODS:The Decision-oriented HTA (DoHTA) method (2), coordinated by Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital (BGCH) HTA Unit, was applied to carefully assess the technology. It was developed starting from the European Network for HTA (EUnetHTA) Core Model® and integrated with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Its purpose is to identify all the relevant assessment aspects of automatic system integrating the evidence from the scientific literature with experts’ judgments and the specific context analysis for BGCH: an evaluation scheme inherent safety, clinical effectiveness, technical and organizational aspects (represented by a decision tree at three levels: dimensions of evaluation, I and II level indicators) was subsequently created. A weight was finally associated to each identified element and the alternatives’ ranking was defined.RESULTS:The study results show a “performance value” associated with the automatic system greater than about thirty-two percentage points compared to the manual system.CONCLUSIONS:At the current state of the scientific evidence and the results of analysis carried out by the working group, it is believed that the choice should be made to introduce the automatic system is available in BGCH.More specifically, from the point of view of safety, automatic system is safer for both patient and operators; about clinical effectiveness, the system improves the nutritional intake, allows a reduction of post-infusional adverse events and the use of antibiotic therapy; concerning economic aspects, the analysis of available data shows a substantial equivalence between the alternatives considered; the technical-functional aspects show an improvement according to almost all indicators; organizational aspects show a slight improvement in the working and in process management and finally the legal aspects indicate a slight advantage for the automatic system.

IMPACT OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT ON PREVENTIVE SCREENING IN BELGIUM

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veerle Vermeulen ◽  
Katja Coppens ◽  
Katrien Kesteloot
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Screening ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Healthcare Policy ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Psa Testing ◽  
In Pregnancy

Objective: To describe how scientific evidence has influenced healthcare policy making in Belgium in the field of sickness prevention for mammography, PSA testing in prostate cancer screening, and use of ultrasound in pregnancy.Methods: Review of published and gray literature and interviews with stakeholders and experts.Results: At the end of 1999, a systematic national/regional screening program had not yet been implemented for any of the three screening strategies. A systematic breast cancer screening program is being prepared for implementation only in Flanders. This limited impact can be attributed to the fragmentation in healthcare policy, the different options among the different regions, fragmentation in healthcare practice, the strong impact of healthcare stakeholders (provider groups and sickness funds) on decision making, and limited attention to scientific evidence in health policy and technology assessment.Conclusions: Health technology assessment has had very little impact on policy and practice in use of mammography, PSA testing, and ultrasound in pregnancy in Belgium.

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