INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

Background: Health Technology Assessments (HTAs) evaluate how a healthcare technology is likely to impact health outcomes, costs, care patterns, and equity if it were used in a particular healthcare system or setting. The goal is to inform policymakers considering implementation decisions and to bridge between the world of research and the very practical information required for such decision making. It involves a family of methods that often include literature review, evidence synthesis, and decision-analytic simulation modeling, and increasingly, studies of social, ethical, and patient perspectives. In an increasing number of countries, large-scale administrative databases are available to provide primary data for HTAs. For those without such resources currently, the value of such databases for a wide range of decision support is likely enhanced when one considers their use in HTA. As administrative databases become increasingly available, linkable, and data rich, methods to use them effectively for HTA become increasingly important.

Format Requirements: This course consists of lectures, interactive group exercises and discussions. Examples from the published literature will be used to illustrate main themes in the course. The intended audience are applied researchers and policy analysts interested in gaining an understanding of: 1) performing Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and 2) using administrative data effectively to make more accurate and generalizable. Laptops with the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program may be useful but are not required.

Description and Objectives:

Objectives: By the end of the course, participants will gain

1. Understanding of the key concepts and steps to performing an HTA

2. Familiarity with HTA methods and be able to provide a detailed description of
performing an HTA in a particular applied context

3. The ability to describe the organization of typical administrative data sources and
the potential linkages

4. Understanding of methods for extracting, analyzing, and utilizing administrative
data for HTAs

Course Description: This full day course provides detailed information on performing
Health Technology Assessments (HTA) and the increasingly important use of primary
data from administrative data sources in performing such analyses. The course
includes discussion of appropriate methods, motivated by applied examples with
time for group discussion about HTA topics most relevant to course participants.

For introductory reading the following literature is recommended. PDF of these
articles will be emailed to participants prior to the course.

Health technology assessment: history and demand by Andrew Stevens, Ruairidh
Milne and Amanda Burls
Journal of Public Health Medicine Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 98–101
DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdg022

The development of health technology assessment, David Banta
67 rue de la Roquette, 75011 Paris, France / Received 28 October 2001; accepted
26 March 2002 / Health Policy 63 (2003) 121[1]/132

HTA 101- INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT, Clifford S.
Goodman, Ph.D.
The Lewin Group, Falls Church, Virginia, USA
clifford.goodman@lewin.com/ January 2004