EUnetHTA Adaptation Glossary (beta)

Generalisability and transferability both refer to the degree to which results of an HTA can be extrapolated to other circumstances or settings. The two terms are often seen as having the same meaning, and are very closely related. It could however be desirable to ascribe different meaning to the terms. One possible way of separating the two terms is as follows:

Generalisability basically refers to the external validity of an HTA. In general this refers to both interventions, outcomes, units and settings. Generalisability as a concept grows out of research methodology

Relevance refers to the extent to which an HTA is applicable for decision-makers and addresses an essential policy question. The main issue is whether the topic of a report is usable and needed by HTA users

Reliability refers to the degree to which results from an HTA report can be replicated.

Rapid review (or rapid HTA or rapid assessment) is a designation of HTAs that are done within a shorter timeframe than “regular” HTAs. However, it is not easy to give a clear definition since rapid has been used as a concept for HTAs done within the time frame of a few days and up to a year.

Mini HTA

A policy is an overall plan embracing general goals or ideas. It will almost always include an objective and some method of action selected among alternatives to guide decisions.

A policy question is the object for the overall policy or related one of the alternatives. For example a heath policy could be treatment of patients’ diabetes and a policy question related to that policy could be how often the patients with diabetes type II should be screened for retinopathy.

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

Generalisability and transferability both refer to the degree to which results of an HTA can be extrapolated to other circumstances or settings. The two terms are often seen as having the same meaning, and are very closely related. It could however be desirable to ascribe different meaning to the terms. One possible way of separating the two terms is as follows:

Generalisability basically refers to the external validity of an HTA. In general this refers to both interventions, outcomes, units and settings. Generalisability as a concept grows out of research methodology

Critical appraisal is the process of systematically examining research evidence to assess its validity, results and relevance before using it to inform a decision. Critical appraisal is one step in the process of evidence-based decision making. Critical appraisal skills are necessary to determine what the evidence is for the local contest.

The process of assessing and interpreting evidence by systematically considering its validity, results and relevance is a central part of doing HTA. This definition is clear and should be preserved. The specific process of critical appraisal is probably done in different ways in different organisations/projects, but the main request must be that the process is reliable and is documented in a transparent way.

A conflict of interest is a situation in which a corporation or individual is in a position to exploit a professional or official capacity for their corporate or personal benefit. Competing interests can make it difficult to act impartially. Even if there is no evidence of improper actions, a conflict of interest can undermine confidence in the ability of that person to use his/her position with proper ethics.

Commissioning, planning and purchasing are different stages in the process of getting from a strategy or an idea to providing a service.