Abstract
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Introduction:Health technology assessment (HTA) is scientifically incorporating the demand, effectiveness and expedience of adopting innovative technologies, supported by evidence-based medicine. The rapid development of innovations led to an accelerated need to comprehend their benefit and satisfaction through actual utilization. ‘Real World’ Experience (RWE) in action is a source for collecting information through practice that has not yet been formally published. The target is to identify challenges and barriers in adoption, considerations on significant investment and local adjustment. This study aimed to assess the benefit of RWE as a tool for gathering information understanding and evaluating new technologies as candidates for public funding.
Methods:Twelve new technologies were assessed by 36 technology-assessors from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the hospital, and were ranked using two scales: (i) the contribution of using RWE to benefit the assessment mechanism, and (ii) the perceptual “value” of the technology.
Results:Analyzing the contribution of RWE to HTA, 67 percent of the technologies reviewed were recommended for adoption. Low RWE ranking correlated with a decision to reject technology adoption. The most important “value” among all assessors on RWE was “innovation”, and among hospital assessors, the parameter “local adjustment” was cardinal. MOH assessors highlighted RWE to increase knowledge of regulators to encourage adoption. The aspect relating to economic burden received only medium ranking.
Conclusions:RWE provides an essential contribution to HTA throughout all stages in the life of the technology, especially at early phases. It is an important methodology to gather evidence from the ongoing experience of clinicians, increasing awareness towards promising innovations and amplifying the confidence of decision-making. In this new era of HTA, new concepts arise on the horizon: multi-dimensional evaluations. Expert opinion and RWE are paving the way towards better understanding of beneficial technologies, even in the absence of formal published evidence.
