scholarly journals Health technology assessment-informed pricing negotiation in China: higher negotiated price for more effective targeted anticancer medicines?

2022 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Huang ◽  
Carolina Oi Lam Ung ◽  
Haishaerjiang Wushouer ◽  
Lin Bai ◽  
Tao Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In China, health technology assessment (HTA) has recently been adopted in pricing negotiation for medicine listing in the National Reimbursement Drug List. At present, how HTA is applied to inform the decision-making process remains underreported. In order to explore how the adoption of HTA was translated into listing and price negotiation results in light of the confidential nature of the negotiating process, this study aimed to compare the negotiated price and the clinical benefit of selected targeted anticancer medicines (TAMs) involved in the 2019 negotiation. Main text Among 16 TAMs successfully negotiated, only four TAMs representing four indication groups had appropriate reference medicines for comparison and were, therefore, included in the analysis. The price and clinical benefit of the four TAMs were compared against one or two reference medicines with the same initial indications. The sales prices for nine TAMs before and after the negotiation were extracted from the centralized medication procurement system. Clinical benefits were evaluated based on evidence from published articles and clinical guidelines. The results suggested that, despite the application of HTA, both rational and irrational decisions had been made about the reimbursement of TAMs in the 2019 negotiation, warranting further investigation. Conclusion While the development and adoption of HTA has seen significant progress in China, actions are needed to ensure that the adoption of HTA is effectively applied in decisions on the reimbursement of medicines.

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 137-138
Author(s):  
Ionela Gheorghiu ◽  
Alain Lesage ◽  
Adam Mongodin ◽  
Marlène Galdin

INTRODUCTION:Our Hospital-based Health Technology Assessment unit (HB-HTA) was founded in 2011 following the nomination of Louis-H. Lafontaine hospital as the Montreal University Mental Health Institute (IUSMM). From the beginning, the HB-HTA has been supporting and advising the Chief Executive Officer of IUSMM in the decision-making process concerning the implementation of new technologies and practices in mental health. Since 2015, the HB-HTA is part of the East of Montreal Regional Integrated Health and Social Services Centre (CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l’Île de Montréal), continuing to support decisions in mental health. Currently, the HB-HTA unit is nested in the Quality, Performance and Ethics department.METHODS:Formed by a coordinator, a scientific advisor and a manager, the HB-HTA team plans, organizes and sets up the evaluation activities. The unit benefits from the support of a Steering Committee which consists of representatives of clinical, administrative and research directions, as well as of health users and families. This committee determine the strategic orientation of the HB-HTA unit, prioritize the projects, approves the evaluation products and gives indications on the knowledge transfer process.RESULTS:To answer the decision questions, our HB-HTA unit employs two types of products: evaluation reports and informative notes. Based on an exhaustive literature search and consultations with stakeholders, the evaluation reports offer recommendations to support the decision-making process. The informative notes are rapid responses based on a partial literature search. The nature of this type of analysis does not allow the formulation of recommendations, however, a conclusion of the consulted literature is offered.CONCLUSIONS:Based on the work of our HB-HTA unit, some important decisions were made by the IUSMM. As an example, the systematic screening of psychiatric patients for drug and alcohol was not favored by our institution; rather than this, priority was given to staff training, in order to better identify and treat psychiatric patients with substance abuse comorbidity.


Author(s):  
Mackenzie Mills

Introduction:In cases of high unmet clinical need, patients can access drugs prior to marketing authorization (MA) and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) through compassionate use programmes (CUP) or special access pathways (SAP). In theory, accelerated access is beneficial for patients with few therapeutic alternatives. In practice, it remains unclear if early access products actually deliver meaningful clinical benefit.Methods:Seventy-five drug-indication pairs were identified that have proceeded through a CUP or SAP in one or more countries including Canada, Australia, France, Sweden, England, and Scotland. Data was collected from regulatory and HTA websites on length of CUP or SAP, time prior to MA, time prior to HTA decision, time between MA and HTA decision, French Transparency Commission added clinical benefit (ASMR), and HTA decision. Cohen kappa scores were calculated in order to assess inter-agency agreement.Results:Across the 75 drug-indication pairs, average time between CUP and marketing authorization was 243 days, and average time between MA and HTA decision was 252 days. No products were deemed to be of major added clinical benefit (ASMR I), only 2.7 percent of products had important added clinical benefit (ASMR II), 26.7 percent of products had moderate added clinical benefit (ASMR III), 40.0 percent of products had minor added clinical benefit (ASMR IV), and 22.7 percent of products had no added clinical benefit (ASMR V). There is little inter-agency agreement in HTA recommendations for products that have proceeded through a CUP. The highest amount of agreement was seen between Canada and Scotland (k = 0.24).Conclusions:Preliminary results suggest that CUP and SAP products accelerate access, but often only provide only moderate or minor improvements in clinical benefit. Further, there is very little agreement across HTA agencies on the value of these products.


Author(s):  
Frans Rutten

This article comments on the four country papers in this volume from an economic perspective. Different phases of the decision-making process, which can be supported by Health Technology Assessment (HTA), are considered. For each of these, there is large cross-country variation in the way in which HTA influences policy. Furthermore, economic themes regarding the relevance of HTA evidence for policy making, the position of cost-effectiveness in relation to other criteria vis-à-vis reimbursement decisions, the use of a cost per quality-adjusted life year threshold, and the incorporation of economic considerations in practice guidelines are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (S1) ◽  
pp. 26-26
Author(s):  
Bing Guo ◽  
Carmen Moga

Introduction:Although individual patient data meta-analysis (IPD MA) is considered the gold standard of systematic reviews (SRs), a recent International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment survey indicates that IPD MA is not frequently included in a health technology assessment (HTA), or conducted by HTA researchers. The objective of this presentation is to describe our first experience with including an IPD MA in a HTA report, discuss the added value for an evidence-based decision-making process, and advocate for expanding work in this field.Methods:An overview of SRs on endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke included one IPD MA and six study-level SRs/MAs. Methodological quality was appraised by two reviewers independently using the tool recommended by the Cochrane IPD MA working group for the IPD MA, and the AMSTAR (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews) for the study-level reviews. Pooled results from subgroup analyses based on access to primary patient data were compared to those reported in SRs that conducted subgroup analyses based on the published data to identify patients or clinical factors that would impact clinical outcomes.Results:The overall findings were similar between the IPD MA and other SRs/MAs. However, when compared to aggregated data used in study-level SRs/MAs, subgroup analyses based on patient data allowed for adjustment of confounders, multiple categories within a subgroup, standardization of outcomes across trials, and detailed data checking. Larger sample sizes of each pre-defined subgroup permitted for more precise estimates of treatment effects. A number of methodological issues in the IPD MA were identified; particularly, no assessment of risk of bias of included trials was conducted.Conclusions:Access to original patient data is demanding and conducting IPD MA requires extensive resources. The advantages of having an improved quality analysis, an appropriate quantification of the effects in the analyzed subgroups, and precision of results may justify additional efforts, and may increase confidence in the decision-making process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 288-292
Author(s):  
Christopher McCabe ◽  
Jeff Round

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) has always sought to incorporate the evidence of all patients affected in the decision-making process. While health system budgets could increase to cover costs of new technologies, the relevant patients are those benefitting from access to the technology being appraised. More recently, with health system budgets effectively fixed, costs of new technologies are covered by displacing other, currently funded care. This reallocation means the patients affected by the decision include those whose healthcare is displaced. These patients are typically unidentified, however, and so HTA in this instance involves choosing between identified and unidentified patients. We argue that HTA should take account of identifiability bias in this decision-making, to avoid promoting inequitable and inefficient access to healthcare.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 376-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hailey ◽  
Sophie Werkö ◽  
Måns Rosén ◽  
Karen Macpherson ◽  
Susan Myles ◽  
...  

Objectives: The aim of this study was to obtain information on methods used to measure health technology assessment (HTA) influence, decisions that were influenced, and outcomes linked to HTA.Methods: Electronic databases were used to locate studies in which HTA influence had been demonstrated. Inclusion criteria were studies that reliably reported consideration by decision makers of HTA findings; comparative studies of technology use before and after HTA; and details of changes in policy, health outcomes, or research that could be credibly linked to an HTA.Results: Fifty-one studies were selected for review. Settings were national (24), regional (12), both national and regional (3) hospitals (9), and multinational (3). The most common approach to appraisal of influence was review of policy or administrative decisions following HTA recommendations (51 percent). Eighteen studies (35 percent) reported interview or survey findings, thirteen (26 percent) reviewed administrative data, and six considered the influence of primary studies. Of 142 decisions informed by HTA, the most common types were on routine clinical practice (67 percent of studies), coverage (63 percent), and program operation (37 percent). The most frequent indications of HTA influence were on decisions related to resource allocation (59 percent), change in practice pattern (31 percent), and incorporation of HTA details in reference material (18 percent). Few publications assessed the contribution of HTA to changing patient outcomes.Conclusions: The literature on HTA influence remains limited, with little on longer term effects on practice and outcomes. The reviewed publications indicated how HTA is being used in different settings and approaches to measuring its influence that might be more widely applied, such as surveys and monitoring administrative data.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Wortley ◽  
Allison Tong ◽  
Kirsten Howard

Objectives The aim of the present study was to describe community views and perspectives on public engagement processes in Australian health technology assessment (HTA) decision making. Methods Six focus groups were held in Sydney (NSW, Australia) as part of a broad program of work on public engagement and HTA. Eligible participants were aged ≥18 years and spoke English. Participants were asked about their views and perspectives of public engagement in the HTA decision-making process, with responses analysed using a public participation framework. Results Fifty-eight participants aged 19–71 years attended the focus groups. Responses from the public indicated that they wanted public engagement in HTA to include a diversity of individuals, be independent and transparent, involve individuals early in the process and ensure that public input is meaningful and useful to the process. This was consistent with the public participation framework. Perceived shortcomings of the current public engagement process were also identified, namely the lack of awareness of the HTA system in the general population and the need to acknowledge the role different groups of stakeholders or ‘publics’ can have in the process. Conclusions The public do see a role for themselves in the HTA decision-making process. This is distinct to the involvement of patients and carers. It is important that any future public engagement strategy in this field distinguishes between stakeholder groups and outline approaches that will involve members of the public in the decision-making process, especially if public expectations of involvement in healthcare decision-making continue to increase. What is known about this topic? The views and perspectives of patients and consumers are important in the HTA decision-making process. There is a move to involve the broader community, particularly as decisions become increasingly complex and resources more scarce. What does this paper add? It not been known to what extent, or at what points, the community would like to be engaged with the HTA decision-making process. The present study adds to the evidence base on this topic by identifying features of engagement that may be important in determining the extent of wider public involvement. It is clear that the community expects the system to be transparent, for patients to be involved early in specific processes and the wider community to be able to contribute to the broader vision of the healthcare system. What are the implications for practitioners? A formalised strategy is needed to include the public voice into health technology decisions. With the current level of reform in the healthcare sector and the focus on creating a sustainable healthcare system, there is a real opportunity to implement an approach that not only informs patients and the community of the challenges, but includes and incorporates their views into these decisions. This will assist in developing and adapting policy that is relevant and meets the needs of the population.


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