OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to discuss the development of health technology assessment (HTA) in the Philippines. METHODS A new national health insurance program began to be implemented in the Philippines in 1995 after passage of the Health Insurance Act. RESULTS The program is known as the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). HTA was introduced to the Philippines i...

BACKGROUND China is investing considerably in health care reforms to address issues in its health care system. An example is access to innovative drugs, which remains challenging because it is largely dependent on patient self-pay. Recognizing this, the government has invested considerably in its basic medical insurance. As health care expenditure increases, there are growing concerns on budget...

background: intra-operative radiation therapy (iort) is the transfer of a single large radiation dose to the tumor bed during surgery with the final goal of improving regional tumor control. this study aimed to investigate the safety, effectiveness and economic evaluation of intra-operative radiation therapy.   methods : the scientific literature was searched in the main biomedical databases (c...

Background New technologies constitute an important cost-driver in healthcare, but the dynamics that lead to their emergence remains poorly understood from a health policy standpoint. The goal of this paper is to clarify how entrepreneurs, investors, and regulatory agencies influence the value of emerging health technologies.   Methods Our 5-year qualitative research program examined the proces...

background: every year millions of dollars are expended to equip and maintain the hospital sterilization centers, and our country is not an exception of this matter. according to this, it is important to use more effective technologies and methods in health system in order to reach more effectiveness and saving in costs. this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the technology of regi...

The International Society for Technology Assessment in Health Care (ISTAHC) was formed in 1985. It grew out of the increasing awareness of the international dimensions of health technology assessment (HTA) and the need for new communication methods at the international level. The main function of ISTAHC was to present an annual conference, which gradually grew in size, and also to generally imp...

Early health technology assessment is increasingly being used to support health economic evidence development during early stages of clinical research. Such early models can be used to inform research and development about the design and management of new medical technologies to mitigate the risks, perceived by industry and the public sector, associated with market access and reimbursement. Ove...

introduction: green light photo selective vaporization of the prostate (pvp) is a minimally invasive method of treatment for clinical benign prostatic hyperplasia with fewer side effects. the aim of this study is to evaluate the safety, effectiveness and cost analysis of pvp compared with transurethral resection of prostate. methods: a systematic search was done in cochrane, trip database, medl...

Evidence suggests that a significant number of medical technologies are of little or no benefit to patients. Under current budgetary pressures, state health care programs cannot afford continued spending on unnecessary medical care without further cuts in enrollment. Limiting coverage of high-tech care only to indications supported by good clinical evidence would help save state health care dol...