OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to describe the history and present situation with health technology assessment (HTA) in Israel. METHODS The method used in this study was a historical analysis based mainly on the knowledge of the authors, but supplemented by the published literature. RESULTS HTA originated in Israel as a centralized function conducted under the auspice of research, dev...

BACKGROUND While evaluation of ethical aspects in health technology assessment (HTA) has gained much attention during the past years, the integration of ethics in HTA practice still presents many challenges. In response to the increasing demand for expansion of health technology assessment (HTA) methodology to include ethical issues more systematically, this article reports on a multi-stage stu...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to discuss the development of health technology assessment (HTA) in the Philippines. METHODS A new national health insurance program began to be implemented in the Philippines in 1995 after passage of the Health Insurance Act. RESULTS The program is known as the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). HTA was introduced to the Philippines i...

While the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) community has acknowledged the importance of public and consumer involvement in the HTA process, very few studies have examined how technology-related findings may be reported by the media to the broader public. This paper compares the content of press articles with the content of three Canadian HTA reports that respectively assess electroconvulsive ...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this work was to provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the health technology assessment (HTA) concept in the scientific literature through a scientometric approach. METHODS A literature search was conducted, by selecting publications, as well as news from the media, containing "health technology assessment" in their title, abstracts, or keywords. We then u...

OBJECTIVE Middle-income countries are often referred to as developing or emerging economies and face multiple challenges of severe financial stresses in their health care sectors, and high disease burden. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of how health technology assessment (HTA) is used and organized in selected middle-income countries and its role in the process of pharmac...

BACKGROUND For health technology assessment (HTA) to be more policy relevant and for health technology-related decision-making to be truly evidence-based, promoting knowledge translation (KT) is of vital importance. Although some research has focused on KT of HTA, there is a dearth of literature on KT determinants and the situation in developing countries and transitional societies remains larg...

The mini-health technology assessment (HTA) tool is valuable in assessing the quality of decisions regarding health technology management in South African public hospitals. The tool demonstrates the needs for improved decision-making and for developing an appropriate, customised instrument to support decision makers regarding medical device management. Health technology in South Africa has c...

OBJECTIVES This study examines the content and role of ethical analysis in health technology assessment (HTA) and horizon scanning publications. It proposes that ethical analysis in HTA is of at least two different types: an ethics of HTA and an ethics in HTA. METHODS I examine the critical differences between these approaches through the examples of the analysis of genetic screening for brea...

BACKGROUND Health technology assessments (HTAs) are increasingly used to inform coverage, access, and utilization of medical technologies including molecular diagnostics (MDx). Although MDx are used to screen patients and inform disease management and treatment decisions, there is no uniform approach to their evaluation by HTA organizations. OBJECTIVES The International Society for Pharmacoec...