Health Technology Assessment and Economic Evaluation- Arguments for a National Approach
Abstract
Health technology assessment (HTA) is now an established input to health-care decision-making in many countries. For example, the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) has members from 24 countries including North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and provides a “forum for the identification and pursuit of interests common to health technology assessment agencies”
[1]. Organizations such as INAHTA have come about because HTA is based upon a general set of principles and involves the study of the medical, social, ethical, and economic implications of the development, diffusion, and use of a health technology. In this article, arguments are presented to illustrate that despite these common principles, the process of HTA, and more particularly its economic evaluation component, needs to take a national approach toward evaluation. These arguments are not against the learning of lessons from work conducted in other jurisdictions, but rather that the differences between countries
means that the results of an economic evaluation conducted in one setting might not be applicable to another and as a consequence, country-specific evaluations are needed that reflect the needs of the decision-makers in that country.
[1]. Organizations such as INAHTA have come about because HTA is based upon a general set of principles and involves the study of the medical, social, ethical, and economic implications of the development, diffusion, and use of a health technology. In this article, arguments are presented to illustrate that despite these common principles, the process of HTA, and more particularly its economic evaluation component, needs to take a national approach toward evaluation. These arguments are not against the learning of lessons from work conducted in other jurisdictions, but rather that the differences between countries
means that the results of an economic evaluation conducted in one setting might not be applicable to another and as a consequence, country-specific evaluations are needed that reflect the needs of the decision-makers in that country.
Authors
Luke Vale