EUnetHTA Adaptation Glossary (beta)

Generalisability - is the degree to which the results of a study or systematic review can be extrapolated to other circumstances, in particular to routine health care situations. Measurements can be used for different purposes. The same measurements will be used for introduction of new programmes or new technologies, such as equipment, medical-technical devices and pharmaceuticals, for extension of the current programmes and treatments (as well as reduction of waiting periods) and organisational and other changes in the health care system.

Relevance

Relevance is a term used to describe how pertinent, connected, or applicable some information is to a given matter. Some diseases might need additional measurements. One has to see if the current measurements are sufficient or if there have to be some new measurements implemented for special diseases. There are various perspectives of relevance: objective, subjective and a mixed perspective.

Reliability

Generalisability - is the degree to which the results of a study or systematic review can be extrapolated to other circumstances, in particular to routine health care situations. Measurements can be used for different purposes. The same measurements will be used for introduction of new programmes or new technologies, such as equipment, medical-technical devices and pharmaceuticals, for extension of the current programmes and treatments (as well as reduction of waiting periods) and organisational and other changes in the health care system.

Critical Appraisal is the process of systematically examining research evidence to assess its validity, results and relevance before using it to inform a decision. In Slovenia, both assessment and critical appraisal have the same meaning and they are used for closing the gap between research and practice. Critical appraisal means that the bias needs to be avoided and the most appropriate design for studying the effectiveness of an intervention or treatment has to be implemented.

A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust has competing professional or personal interests. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill this person’s duties impartially. Even if there is no evidence of improper actions, a conflict of interests can create an appearance of impropriety that can undermine confidence in the ability of that person to act properly in his/her position. A conflict of interest might exist when a person working for one organisation does research for an e.g.

Purchasing of health services is the process by which the most needed and effective health interventions are chosen and provided in an efficient and equitable manner, and the providers are paid appropriately from the pooled financial resources for delivering defined sets of services and interventions. Purchasing has three interwoven elements; allocating financial resources”, establishing “provider payment options” and “contracting” with providers.

Applicability of different standards or evaluations might be a problem in certain countries. Different countries have to find a criterion or a factor to apply assessments from other countries as it can not be done 1:1, especially not HTA reports related to economic or epidemiologic aspects. Applicability depends on the nature of certain HTA study. Some studies (RCT) can be transferred directly from country to country, other like economic evaluations or epidemiologic studies are not cross country applicable.