The use of scientific quantitative methods to support decision making is becoming necessary in healthcare systems, especially for Health Technology Assessment (HTA), which is a particularly complex decision making processes. This paper, after introducing three case studies in which the AHP was used to elicit user needs, generalize the method employed, provides recommendations and discusses crit...

India is at crossroads with a commitment by the government to universal health coverage (UHC), driving efficiency and tackling waste across the public healthcare sector. Health technology assessment (HTA) is an important policy reform that can assist policy-makers to tackle inequities and inefficiencies by improving the way in which health resources are allocated towards cost-effective, appropr...

background: various decisions have been made on technology application at all levels of the health system in different countries around the world. health technology assessment is considered as one of the best scientific tools at the service of policy- makers. this study attempts to investigate the current challenges of iran’s health technology assessment and provide appropriate strategies to es...

To the Editor: We want to comment on the study by Martelli et al. in Volume 23:4, which appears to have several mistakes and seems to be outdated and probably biased. Several agencies mentioned in the study now have different tasks and mandates and accordingly have different denominations. The CCOHTA for example has been renamed CADTH (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health) in Ap...

The need to progress and innovate in health technology assessment (HTA) is a must in a continuously changing environment. The HTAi Policy Forum reflected on two specific areas for development where it was thought there was need for careful consideration and deliberation during the main annual meeting in February 2016. The study by Husereau et al. (1) in this journal presents the discussions res...

background: dealing with ethical considerations is a major component of health technology assessment (hta) definitions. objectives: present study aimed to explore and describe the manner of ethical analyses in hta reports and the effects it had on hta-related decision making around the world.   methods: by considering the contextual milieu of reports and searching for ethical themes and subject...

Switzerland has a mixed public and private healthcare system. All citizens are enrolled in compulsory basic health insurance. A 1996 law allows people to choose among different sickness funds and managed care plans. The federal government is empowered to act on important health issues, but the 26 cantons have prime responsibility in health care and social welfare. They have their own laws on he...

Patient perspective is becoming increasingly important in healthcare decision making. Patients should be involved as ‘end-users’ in the health technology assessment (HTA) processes to broaden the perspectives of the assessments and advice provided to decision makers1. Patients can provide information on their daily experience with disease, treatments and their needs, provide views on aspects no...

Background Evidence-informed deliberative processes (EDPs) were recently introduced to guide health technology assessment (HTA) agencies to improve their processes towards more legitimate decision-making. The EDP framework provides guidance that covers the HTA process, ie, contextual factors, installation of an appraisal committee, selecting health technologies and criteria, assessment, a...

OBJECTIVES In the Czech Republic, the health technology assessment (HTA) approaches have been implemented in evaluation of medicinal products since 2008. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the implementation of HTA and different levels thereof in the evaluation process conducted by the State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL) and to describe the impact of HTA on the entrance of ...