Technology assessment.

As the biotechnology revolution broadens, many expensive new products will come before P&T committee members across the country. I believe that there is much we can learn from the process of technology assessment that is relevant to our analysis of these new products. To learn more about critical success factors in this process, I recommend taking a look at the recent work from the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) and the National Association of Public Hospitals (NAPH). The UHC, representing a consortium of 90 academic medical centers, has its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The NAPH, which represents several dozen major national public hospitals, is based in Washington, DC. These two critical constituent-based organizations provide research-driven member services, including publications.1 Strictly speaking, these services are available only to UHC and NAPH members, but I would like to take the opportunity here to summarize the key lessons that are relevant for P&T committees. Twenty-six health care organizations that were members of the UHC or the NAPH responded to detailed surveys evaluating all aspects of the technology assessment process within their walls. Through this external benchmarking process, the UHC and NAPH identified factors that were essential to the success of technology assessment from the socalled “better-performing” organizations. In short, what can we learn from the organizations that perform technology assessment better than their peers? Among the most important success factors for a top-rated technology assessment program are: