THE CONCEPT OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of the content of health technology assessment (HTA) among health professionals applying for a state grant of DKK 10 million.

Methods: A total of 113 applications were received and analyzed. When conducting the analysis, it was assumed that the applicants' maximum five-page project description would reflect: a) the applicants' perception of what an HTA is; b) how the assessment was to be conducted; and c) what the results were going to be used for.

Results: More than 40% of all applications focused on treatment; in 51% only one or two professional groups were to be involved (thus interdisciplinarity was questionable); only 22% of the HTA cases were intended to form the basis for political/administrative decisions; in general, the HTAs were planned far less comprehensively than was relevant; 76% of the projects did not include a formal synthesis phase; 41% intended to use diffusion as the only method for publication of the HTA result.

Conclusions: The analysis reveals several areas where DIHTA has to make an effort in order to secure that HTA in fact constitutes a comprehensive and well-documented basis for decision making. These areas concern the following topics: multidisciplinarity, the objective of HTA, comprehensiveness, the synthesis phase, and publication and utilization of the HTA result.