PP133 What Services And Products Should A Health Technology Assessment Agency Provide?

Abstract

Introduction

Health technology assessment (HTA) bodies support healthcare decision-making by producing different kind of products. The high speed of the healthcare innovations and the scenarios such as the COVID-19 pandemic challenge HTA organizations to adapt their services to better respond to these demands. The Spanish Network of HTA Agencies (RedETS) is redefining the services and the products in its portfolio. The first step has been conducting a review in order to identify the most relevant HTA products.

Methods

A scoping review with two sections was conducted: (i) analysis of results from a bibliographic search performed in the main biomedical databases; and (ii) analysis of results from a manual review of the official websites of seven international HTA agencies: CADTH (Canada), INESSS (Canada), SBU (Sweden), NICE (United Kingdom), IQWIG (Germany), HAS (France), IECS (Argentina) and IETS (Colombia). The EUnetHTA website was also reviewed.

Results

The search identified 1,311 references; 21 studies were considered relevant. The main topic found was about rapid responses services. The standard timeline for these should be less than six months, with even some produced in days. Transparency about methodology and involvement of decision-makers were considered key points to be included. Website analysis revealed similar HTA reports production but variation in the domains and elements considered. The timeframe for conducting a full HTA report can be up to 24 months, with a median of 12 months. Agencies also offer some kinds of rapid response services. Scientific consultation and horizon scanning systems for emerging technologies are other services performed by some agencies.

Conclusions

The review reveals that agencies have different products to address different needs throughout the life cycle of technologies: from scientific advice to full HTA. In addition, HTA agencies have incorporated rapid responses into their services. According to literature, these products could support short-term decision-making.