VP140 Methods For Ethical Analysis In The Health Technology Assessment

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 213-214
Author(s):  
Raysa Martins ◽  
Jorge Barreto ◽  
Flavia Elias

INTRODUCTION:This paper is based on a narrative review to identify and describe approaches to incorporate ethical aspects in Health Technology Assessment (HTA). On the first decade HTA was being established as a new area of research, the social and ethical dimensions seemed to play an essential role. This perspective, centered on the social impact of technology contrasts with the current definition, which focuses on the technical conditions of technology, especially properties and effects. Some authors have discussed the obstacles to include the ethical dimension into this area to a large extent. Those authors were motivated by the perception that there are few sections explicitly dedicated to these dimensions in the evaluation reports.METHODS:We searched these scientific databases: Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Centre for Review and Dissemination (CRD), PDQ - Evidence and Virtual Health Library (VHL), and selected studies that presented procedures and methodologies for the inclusion of ethical analysis in HTA.RESULTS:A total of 308 articles were retrieved, nine of them were included. The identified methods were classified into four groups according to the parameters and procedures: (i) normative-based evaluation, (ii) case comparison-based evaluation; (iii) predefined questionnaire application-based evaluation and iv) debate and deliberation-based evaluation.The result showed a great diversity of approaches (1 - 3) for the inclusion of the ethical dimension in the evaluation studies of health technologies, which can even be used together. It is suggested that its use considers the characteristics and needs of each different application contexts.CONCLUSIONS:This work presented as methodological base of approaches for the integration of the ethical dimension in the HTA field. Nonetheless, the proposed approaches to the incorporation of philosophical field of ethics into the systematization and objectivity field of the HTA reveal a considerable approach diversity that is applied productively. Since it has been agreed that technology evaluation is contextual, different approaches would help to meet the needs for possible adjustment.

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammadkarim Bahadori ◽  
Ramin Ravangard ◽  
Mahya Tohidi Nezhad ◽  
Naeimeh Pourtaheri ◽  
Sayyed Morteza Hosseini-Shokouh

PurposeAccording to the great importance of community health as well as the ever-increasing development of health technologies, the importance of designing an interactive model of factors affecting health technology assessment (HTA) can be highlighted. The purpose of designing and implementing the framework of health information system assessment is to ensure that the required accurate data which are necessary to measure the main health indicators are available. The purpose of this paper is to design an interactive model of factors affecting HTA.Design/methodology/approachThis is a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study conducted in the Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the second half of 2017. A sample of 60 experts and professionals working in the field of health technologies are selected using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Two researcher-made questionnaires are used to collect the required data. The collected data are analyzed using decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and MATLAB R2013a.FindingsThe results showed that “Legal dimension,” “safety,” “Effectiveness” and “Social dimension” were the affecting factors and net causes, and “Current application,” “Knowledge of technology,” “Ethical dimension,” “Costs” and “Organizational dimension” were the affected factors and net effects in the interactive model. Furthermore, “Legal dimension” with the coordinates C: [1.88, 1.27] and “Ethical dimension” with the coordinates C: [1.75, −75] were known as the most affecting and most affected factors in the interactive model, respectively.Originality/valueThe DEMATEL model is an appropriate tool for managers and policy makers to structure and prioritize factors influencing the HTA. Policy makers and decision makers can use this model for identifying relationships among factors and prioritize them. Because health policy makers and managers have a major role in formulating the regulations and guidelines related to the HTA, they should pay more attention to the legal considerations in their decisions and use the management tools to move the available resources toward implementing and enforcing rules and guidelines related to the HTA.


Author(s):  
Amy von Huben ◽  
Martin Howell ◽  
Joseph Carrello ◽  
Sarah Norris ◽  
Sally Wortley ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As health services increasingly make investment decisions in digital health technologies (DHTs), a DHT-specific and comprehensive health technology assessment (HTA) process is crucial in assessing value-for-money. Research in DHTs is ever-increasing, but whether it covers the content required for HTA is unknown. Objectives To summarize current trends in primary research on DHTs that manage chronic disease at home, particularly the coverage of content recommended for DHT-specific and comprehensive HTA. Methods Medline, Embase, Econlit, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library (1 January 2015 to 20 March 2020) were searched for primary research studies using keywords related to DHT and HTA domains. Studies were assessed for coverage of the most frequently recommended content to be considered in a nine domain DHT-specific HTA previously developed. Results A total of 178 DHT interventions were identified, predominantly randomized controlled trials targeting cardiovascular disease/diabetes in high- to middle-income countries. A coverage assessment of the cardiovascular and diabetes DHT studies (112) revealed less than half covered DHT-specific content in all but the health problem domain. Content common to all technologies but essential for DHTs was covered by more than half the studies in all domains except for the effectiveness and ethical analysis domains. Conclusions Although DHT research is increasing, it is not covering all the content recommended for a DHT-specific and comprehensive HTA. The inability to conduct such an HTA may lead to health services making suboptimal investment decisions. Measures to increase the quality of trial design and reporting are required in DHT primary research.


2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 224-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitra Panteli ◽  
Annette Zentner ◽  
Philipp Storz-Pfennig ◽  
Reinhard Busse

Objectives:Gender as a social construct is a recognized health determinant. Because best practice in reporting health technology assessment (HTA) clearly specifies the need to appraise a technology's social impact within the target population, the extent to which gender issues are taken into account in HTA production is of interest, not only in light of equitable practices but also for reasons of effectiveness. The aim of this study is to provide a first assessment of the degree of gender sensitivity shown by HTA agencies around the world today.Methods:The Web sites of sixty HTA agencies were analyzed. The consideration of gender aspects was specifically looked for in each agency's general mission statement, its priority setting process, and its methodological approach. Additionally, specific gender-oriented initiatives not belonging to any of the aforementioned categories were identified.Results:Of the sixty agencies, less than half mention a commitment to addressing the social implication of health technologies. Only fifteen institutions make information on their priority setting principles available on their Web sites and gender was an issue in two of those cases. Data on methodology were obtainable online from18 agencies, two of which mentioned gender issues explicitly. Finally, gender-oriented initiatives were identified by thirteen agencies.Conclusions:A gender-sensitive approach is apparently rarely adopted in current HTA production. Exceptional practices and relevant tools do exist and could serve as examples to be promoted by international collaborative networks.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Cano Muñoz ◽  
Diana Marcela Troncoso Escobar ◽  
Rosiamry Terezinha De Almeida ◽  
Nayibe Bonilla Mosquera ◽  
Sandra Patricia Usaquén Perilla

Decision makers at the national and local level of health systems require evidence of effectiveness, safety and costs of health technologies for resource allocation. In this sense Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a favorable tool considering it is a multidisciplinary process to evaluate the benefits as well as the social, economic, organizational and ethical issues of a health technology. The aim of this study was to review the literature in order to identify the attributes used in the process of technology acquisition. It was analyzed the attributes of HTA with the purpose of classifying them, to see which are the most recommended for acquisition in hospitals. The identified literature indicated that not only the clinical and economic attributes were considered, but also attributes related to the context of the hospital such as the effect of technology on other hospital services and others associated with the organization


Author(s):  
Marian Sorin Paveliu ◽  
Elena Olariu ◽  
Raluca Caplescu ◽  
Yemi Oluboyede ◽  
Ileana-Gabriela Niculescu-Aron ◽  
...  

Objective: To provide health-related quality of life (HRQoL) data to support health technology assessment (HTA) and reimbursement decisions in Romania, by developing a country-specific value set for the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire. Methods: We used the cTTO method to elicit health state values using a computer-assisted personal interviewing approach. Interviews were standardized following the most recent version of the EQ-VT protocol developed by the EuroQoL Foundation. Thirty EQ-5D-3L health states were randomly assigned to respondents in blocks of three. Econometric modeling was used to estimate values for all 243 states described by the EQ-5D-3L. Results: Data from 1556 non-institutionalized adults aged 18 years and older, selected from a national representative sample, were used to build the value set. All tested models were logically consistent; the final model chosen to generate the value set was an interval regression model. The predicted EQ-5D-3L values ranged from 0.969 to 0.399, and the relative importance of EQ-5D-3L dimensions was in the following order: mobility, pain/discomfort, self-care, anxiety/depression, and usual activities. Conclusions: These results can support reimbursement decisions and allow regional cross-country comparisons between health technologies. This study lays a stepping stone in the development of a health technology assessment process more driven by locally relevant data in Romania.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 447-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian A. Bellemare ◽  
Pierre Dagenais ◽  
Suzanne K.-Bédard ◽  
Jean-Pierre Béland ◽  
Louise Bernier ◽  
...  

Objectives:Integration of ethics into health technology assessment (HTA) remains challenging for HTA practitioners. We conducted a systematic review on social and methodological issues related to ethical analysis in HTA. We examined: (1) reasons for integrating ethics (social needs); (2) obstacles to ethical integration; (3) concepts and processes deployed in ethical evaluation (more specifically value judgments) and critical analyses of formal experimentations of ethical evaluation in HTA.Methods:Search criteria included “ethic,” “technology assessment,” and “HTA”. The literature search was done in Medline/Ovid, SCOPUS, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the international HTA Database. Screening of citations, full-text screening, and data extraction were performed by two subgroups of two independent reviewers. Data extracted from articles were grouped into categories using a general inductive method.Results:A list of 1,646 citations remained after the removal of duplicates. Of these, 132 were fully reviewed, yielding 67 eligible articles for analysis. The social need most often reported was to inform policy decision making. The absence of shared standard models for ethical analysis was the obstacle to integration most often mentioned. Fairness and Equity and values embedded in Principlism were the values most often mentioned in relation to ethical evaluation.Conclusions:Compared with the scientific experimental paradigm, there are no settled proceedings for ethics in HTA nor consensus on the role of ethical theory and ethical expertise hindering its integration. Our findings enable us to hypothesize that there exists interdependence between the three issues studied in this work and that value judgments could be their linking concept.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jari Haverinen ◽  
Niina Keränen ◽  
Petra Falkenbach ◽  
Anna Maijala ◽  
Timo Kolehmainen ◽  
...  

Health technology assessment (HTA) refers to the systematic evaluation of the properties, effects, and/or impacts of health technology. The main purpose of the assessment is to inform decisionmakers in order to better support the introduction of new health technologies. New digital healthcare solutions like mHealth, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics have brought with them a great potential to further develop healthcare services, but their introduction should follow the same criteria as that of other healthcare methods. They must provide evidence-based benefits and be safe to use, and their impacts on patients and organizations need to be clarified. The first objective of this study was to describe the state-of-the-art HTA methods for mHealth, AI, and robotics. The second objective of this study was to evaluate the domains needed in the assessment. The final aim was to develop an HTA framework for digital healthcare services to support the introduction of novel technologies into Finnish healthcare. In this study, the state-of-the-art HTA methods were evaluated using a literature review and interviews. It was noted that some good practices already existed, but the overall picture showed that further development is still needed, especially in the AI and robotics fields. With the cooperation of professionals, key aspects and domains that should be taken into account to make fast but comprehensive assessments were identified. Based on this information, we created a new framework which supports the HTA process for digital healthcare services. The framework was named Digi-HTA.


Author(s):  
Mehmet Akif Erişen ◽  
Fatma Özlem Yılmaz

INTRODUCTION: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the views and opinions of the health administrators, who are working in the private hospitals in Konya province centre about health technology assessment and applications. METHODS: Qualitative research methods have been used in research, and phenomologic method is preferred. The research was conducted using face-to-face interviews with health administrators working in private hospitals serving in the centre of Konya and accepting to participate in the research. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool in the survey. RESULTS: As a result of the analysis, sub-themes were created under the headings of health technologies, health technology assessment, health technology assessment applications in Turkey, health technology assessment approach of private hospitals, establishment of health technology assessment department, health technology assessment applications of the respondents’ hospitals and future position of health technology assessment. And the findings under the created themes are interpreted. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The managers had various information about health technology assessment applications however it was limited. In this respect, it would be beneficial to provide a general education about health technology assessment in order to increase awareness and application of health technology assessment practices.


Author(s):  
V. V. Omelyanovsky ◽  
V. K. Fedyaeva ◽  
N. Z. Musina

In the article, we analyze the current version of Government Regulation No. 871 where the principles of health technologies assessment (HTA) and the reimbursement strategies in Russia have been put forward. We conclude that the HTA methodology in Russia is consistent with the multi-criteria decision analysis. Recommendations on the improvement of the assessment methodology in Regulation No. 871 are provided.


2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (S1) ◽  
pp. 163-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Sampietro-Colom ◽  
Jose Asua ◽  
Eduardo Briones ◽  
Jordi Gol ◽  

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of the introduction and diffusion of health technology assessment (HTA) in Spain.Methods: A survey to summarize the evolution of HTA was sent to representatives of different HTA initiatives in Spain.Results: HTA was introduced in the late 1980s. The main factors were the trend to an increase in healthcare expenditure, concerns regarding efficiency in providing health care, as well as in the level of rationality introducing high technology. Spain has direct (i.e., regulation) and indirect (i.e., payment systems, evidence-based programs, HTA) mechanisms to control health technologies. A recent high priority regulation has established the need of HTA to decide the introduction of a new health technology in the lists of public healthcare coverage, although similar regulations existed in the past and were scarcely implemented. HTA initiatives started at the regional government level. Its introduction followed a progressive pattern among regions. In the beginning, resources were scarce and expertise limited, with work done at intramural level. With time, expertise increase, and promotion of commissioned work was implemented. HTA knowledge transfer in the healthcare system has been carried out through courses, publications, and commissioned research. Currently, there are seven HTA units/agencies, which coordinate their work.Conclusions: HTA in Spain is in its maturity. Facing the unavoidable change of health care environment over time, HTA is also evolving and, currently, there is a trend to broaden the areas of influence of HTA by devolving capacity to hospitals and applying principles to very early phases of health technology development, under the umbrella of regional HTA units/agencies. However, there are two main challenges ahead. One is to have a real impact at the highest level of healthcare policy coordination among Spanish regions, which is done at the Central Ministry of Health. The other is to avoid the influence of political waves in the level of recognition of HTA at the policy decision-making level and to have an adequate and stable funding of HTA initiatives.


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