EUnetHTA Adaptation Glossary (beta)

Health technology assessment is concerned with the evaluation of medical, organizational, economic and societal consequences of implementing health technologies or interventions within health systems. To do so, a high degree of multidisciplinary cooperation and scientific (methodological) competence is required.

The aim of HTA is to ensure that high quality information about the costs, effectiveness and broader impact of health technologies is produced in the most efficient way for those who use, provide care in, make policy for and manage the NHS.

Health Technology Assessment can be translated to “Descrição de Tecnologias da Saúde”or “Avaliação de Tecnologias da Saúde”. The first stresses more the descriptive part of the assessment, without critical evaluation. The second takes into account some type of basic evaluation, which sometimes do not include judgment. The second one is the most near the English version.

Health Technology Assessment is more like “There is a health technology which…”

HTA is a multidisciplinary process that summarises information about the medical, social, economic, and ethical issues related to the use of health technology in a systematic, transparent, unbiased, robust manner. Its aim is to inform the formulation of safe, effective health policies that are patient focused and seek to achieve best value. Despite its policy goals, HTA must always be firmly rooted in research and scientific methods.

The content of HTA

We agree with the definition from the European Parliment (1998): Health Technology assessment is the comprehensive evaluation and assessment of existing and emerging medical technologies including pharmaceuticals, procedures, services, devices and equipment in regard to their medical, economic, social and ethical effects.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/workingpapers/saco/pdf/101_en.pdf

Health technology assessment (HTA):the systematic evaluation of properties, effects, and/or impacts of health care technology. It may address the direct, intended consequences of technologies as well as their indirect, unintended consequences. Its main purpose is to inform technology-related policymaking in health care. HTA is conducted by interdisciplinary groups using explicit analytical frameworks drawing from a variety of methods.