Burning Issues in Health Technology Assessment and Policy Making: What's Keeping Senior Health Technology Assessment Users and Producers up at Night?

Author(s):  
Rebecca Trowman ◽  
Daniel A Ollendorf ◽  
Laura Sampietro-Colom

A key working session, held as part of the Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) Global Policy Forum meeting asks members to share “What's Keeping Me Up At Night.” Members—senior thought leaders from health technology assessment (HTA) agencies, payer organizations, industry, and the HTAi Board—share without fear or favor the thorny issues related to HTA that are challenging them now or likely to do so in the near future. This article contains a reflection on the discussions at this session over the last 2 years and focuses on the recurrent and repeated themes: internal and external stakeholder involvement in HTA processes; globalization of HTA and the future of HTA (namely innovative technologies, tide of data and the “war for talent”). While the aim of these informal sessions is not to produce solutions, it reinforces the importance of developing a truly multi-stakeholder HTA community with working relationships built on mutual trust and long-standing engagement.

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 374-375
Author(s):  
Michael D. Rawlins

The notion of value, in the evaluation of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, was the subject of discussion at the HTAi Policy Forum in February 2013. A summary of its discussions and conclusions is published in this issue of the journal. This commentary considers the implications of the proposal that health technology assessment (HTA) agencies should include, in the value proposition, wider societal costs and benefits as well as incorporating innovative promise.


Author(s):  
Laura Sampietro-Colom ◽  
Rebecca Trowman

Introduction:The third Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) Latin America Policy Forum (LAPF) will meet on 23 and 24 April 2018 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The format of the LAPF echoes that of the HTAi Global Policy Forum and provides a unique opportunity as a leadership meeting for senior people from public and private sector organizations using HTA. The aim of the LAPF is to provide an environment where senior people can engage in strategic discussions, informed by the perspectives of their different organizations, without the constraints associated with discussions of specific products or organizational policies.Methods:The HTAi LPF will convene around 50 senior representatives from HTA agencies and industry members active in the Latin America region. The topic that has been chosen by the organizing committee is ‘defining the value of health technologies in Latin America’ and this will be discussed over two days by attendees.Results:This presentation will focus on summarizing the key messages that resulted from the two days of discussions at the LAPF. The views reflected will balance those of the not-for-profit agencies and private industry sector attendees, while respecting the ‘Chatham House’ rule (whereby no quotes will be directly attributed to any attendee). It will draw out any conclusions from the plenary sessions and the guided breakout sessions from the event. Any actions that are resulting from the event will also be summarized.Conclusions:The presentation will provide a great opportunity for the wider HTAi membership to hear reflections on the key messages resulting from the event. This could provide an opportunity for further questions and debate surrounding the key issues to occur, such us any difference between valuing technologies in the Latin America Region with the approaches made in the European Union and North America.


2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (S2) ◽  
pp. 84-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Palmhøj Nielsen ◽  
Sarah Wadmann Lauritsen ◽  
Finn Børlum Kristensen ◽  
Marie Louise Bistrup ◽  
Americo Cecchetti ◽  
...  

Objectives: This article explains how the issue of stakeholder involvement was addressed in the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) Project and describes the structures of future stakeholder involvement in the EUnetHTA Collaboration.Methods: Initiatives led to a dialogue with stakeholders and exchanging views and expectations on health technology assessment (HTA) processes and the future development of EUnetHTA. The methods of involving different stakeholder groups in EUnetHTA included general information to stakeholders about EUnetHTA, targeted information on a Web site, analysis of stakeholder opinions on HTA and EUnetHTA, and development of a draft stakeholder policy.Results: First steps were taken to organize processes to consolidate the legitimacy of EUnetHTA and its products and encourage the representation of interests, thus contributing to promoting the utilization of HTA in national/regional policy making. A stakeholder Web site, analyses of stakeholder opinions on HTA and EUnetHTA in a discussion topic catalog, and a draft stakeholder policy resulted from the work.Conclusions: Stakeholder involvement in EUnetHTA is necessary to ensure the legitimacy and prospects for utilization of EUnetHTA and its products. The described activities and results create the foundation for a continued dialogue with, and involvement of, stakeholders. The EUnetHTA stakeholder meeting can be considered as a successful experience of dialogue between EUnetHTA and stakeholders, which should be continued. Our experience shows the challenge of obtaining balanced stakeholder representation across the identified stakeholder groups. Continued attention should be given to achieving balanced stakeholder representation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 570-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Bakke Lysdahl ◽  
Kati Mozygemba ◽  
Jacob Burns ◽  
Jan Benedikt Brönneke ◽  
James B. Chilcott ◽  
...  

Objectives: Despite recent development of health technology assessment (HTA) methods, there are still methodological gaps for the assessment of complex health technologies. The INTEGRATE-HTA guidance for effectiveness, economic, ethical, socio-cultural, and legal aspects, deals with challenges when assessing complex technologies, such as heterogeneous study designs, multiple stakeholder perspectives, and unpredictable outcomes. The objective of this article is to outline this guidance and describe the added value of integrating these assessment aspects.Methods: Different methods were used to develop the various parts of the guidance, but all draw on existing, published knowledge and were supported by stakeholder involvement. The guidance was modified after application in a case study and in response to feedback from internal and external reviewers.Results: The guidance consists of five parts, addressing five core aspects of HTA, all presenting stepwise approaches based on the assessment of complexity, context, and stakeholder involvement. The guidance on effectiveness, health economics and ethics aspects focus on helping users choose appropriate, or further develop, existing methods. The recommendations are based on existing methods’ applicability for dealing with problems arising with complex interventions. The guidance offers new frameworks to identify socio-cultural and legal issues, along with overviews of relevant methods and sources.Conclusions: The INTEGRATE-HTA guidance outlines a wide range of methods and facilitates appropriate choices among them. The guidance enables understanding of how complexity matters for HTA and brings together assessments from disciplines, such as epidemiology, economics, ethics, law, and social theory. This indicates relevance for a broad range of technologies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahareh Yazdizadeh ◽  
Safoura Shahmoradi ◽  
Reza Majdzadeh ◽  
Shila Doaee ◽  
Mohammad Bazyar ◽  
...  

Objectives:This study was carried out to evaluate the opinions of stakeholders on their roles in health technology assessment (HTA) in Iran and to determine the barriers and facilitators existing in the organizations to help increase their involvement in the HTA program.Methods:The study was conducted in two stages, semi-structured interviews, and “policy dialogue” with stakeholders. The data were analyzed through the framework approach.Results:The interviews were held with ten stakeholder representatives from various organizations. In addition, Twenty-one representatives participated in the policy dialogue. Based on the findings, all the stakeholder organizations considered themselves as interest groups in all the stages of the HTA process; however, their tendencies and methods of involvement differed from one another. According to the participants, the most important issue to be considered in the context of HTA was that the structures, stages, and procedures of the HTA process must be made transparent.Conclusions:Stakeholder involvement in the HTA program cannot readily take place. Various stakeholders have different interests, responsibilities, infrastructures, and barriers. If a program does not meet these considerations, its chances of succeeding will substantially decrease. Therefore, to prevent overlooking the needs and expectations of stakeholders from the HTA process, it is essential to create opportunities in which their thoughts and ideas are taken into account.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-252
Author(s):  
Carole Longson

The most recent discussions of the HTAi Policy Forum are being showcased in this issue of our Journal. The topic of adaptive approaches to technology management has been a policy area of continuing importance and relevance to health technology assessment agencies and policy makers as well as industry. The latest Policy Forum publication (Husereau et al., in this issue) demonstrates that the discussions at the meeting about this complex topic were very wide indeed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 35-35
Author(s):  
María Sánchez González ◽  
Iñaki Imaz-Iglesia ◽  
Juan Pablo Chalco-Orrego

IntroductionAppropriate involvement of stakeholders is one of the founding principles of the European Cooperation on Health Technology Assessment. The European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) produces Rapid Relative Effectiveness Assessments (REAs) to assess pharmaceutical (PT) or other technologies (OT). Stakeholders essentially participate in the scoping, the draft assessment phase, or both.MethodsAll REAs published since 2013 were reviewed. Stakeholder participation in scoping (project plan) and draft assessment was evaluated. We aggregated categories of stakeholders in four groups (Health Care Providers and Academia, Patients and Consumers, Manufacturers, and Regulators and Payers). Means of collaboration (meetings, comments to project plan and draft assessment, questionnaires, focus groups) are also analyzed. Data is continuously updated with new REAs.ResultsMore than 20 REAs have been published at the moment, with a higher number of OT. Health Care Providers and Academia acted as experts in both phases, participating in all REA of OT, and less of PT. Manufacturers participated in all REA in the scoping phase. Regulators and Payers, less involved, participated mainly in the scoping phase. The main methods are providing comments in a standardized form and meetings. Patients' contribution, similar in OT and PT, has increased over the years. Questionnaires or interviews were the main method of involvement, followed by participation in meetings and focus groups. Visibility and transparency have also improved, with a clearer reporting of the stakeholder contribution in the last assessments.ConclusionsThe stakeholder involvement in EUnetHTA REAs is steadily growing, with the different nature of stakeholders’ categories reflected in their contribution to the assessments. EUnetHTA is standardizing stakeholder involvement procedures taking into account the particularities of each group when generating guidance for stakeholder involvement.


Author(s):  
Andrew Rintoul ◽  
Rebecca Trowman

Introduction:The fifth Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) Asia Policy Forum (APF) was held in Beijing, November 2017. The topic of the meeting was ‘Universal Health Care in the Asia Region: Overcoming the Barriers using HTA and Real World Data’. This presentation will focus on the goal of achieving universal health care (UHC) in the Asia region, and specifically the perspective of the World Health Organization (WHO).Methods:The 2017 HTAi APF had senior representatives from HTA agencies, academia, industry active in the region plus representatives from the WHO Geneva office and the Western Pacific Regional Office. A keynote presentation was delivered by the WHO representative and there were guided breakout group discussions.Results:UHC is a key component of the overall aims and objectives of the WHO; universal access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medicines and vaccines for all is at the heart of this. Pharmaceutical spending varies widely across the Asia region and all countries in the region share common problems in attaining UHC. These include inadequate financing, inefficiencies in procurement and supply chain management, limited use of effective pricing policies and negotiations, substandard quality of medicines and widespread inappropriate prescribing and use.Conclusions:HTA can be used to help countries in the Asia region to achieve UHC; it is a tool to support good decision making and hence can help promote more efficient allocation of limited resources. Affordability, however, needs to be at the center of any decision to invest or disinvest, and incremental cost effectiveness ratios should not be used as the sole basis for decision making.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Brereton ◽  
Christine Ingleton ◽  
Clare Gardiner ◽  
Elizabeth Goyder ◽  
Kati Mozygemba ◽  
...  

Background: Stakeholders are people with an interest in a topic. Internationally, stakeholder involvement in palliative care research and health technology assessment requires development. Stakeholder involvement adds value throughout research (from prioritising topics to disseminating findings). Philosophies and understandings about the best ways to involve stakeholders in research differ internationally. Stakeholder involvement took place in seven countries (England, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland). Findings informed a project that developed concepts and methods for health technology assessment and applied these to evaluate models of palliative care service delivery. Aims: To report on stakeholder involvement in the INTEGRATE-HTA project and how issues identified informed project development. Design: Using stakeholder consultation or a qualitative research design, as appropriate locally, stakeholders in seven countries acted as ‘advisors’ to aid researchers’ decision making. Thematic analysis was used to identify key issues across countries. Setting/participants: A total of 132 stakeholders (82 professionals and 50 ‘lay’ people) aged ⩾18 participated in individual face-to-face or telephone interviews, consultation meetings or focus groups. Results: Different stakeholder involvement methods were used successfully to identify key issues in palliative care. A total of 23 issues common to three or more countries informed decisions about the intervention and comparator of interest, sub questions and specific assessments within the health technology assessment. Conclusion: Stakeholders, including patients and families undergoing palliative care, can inform project decision making using various involvement methods according to the local context. Researchers should consider local understandings about stakeholder involvement as views of appropriate and feasible methods vary. Methods for stakeholder involvement, especially consultation, need further development.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document