Surgical treatment of obesity results in a reduction of sick leave and disability pension, compared to controls, particularly in subjects aged 47-60 y.

The systematic use of evidence to inform healthcare decisions, particularly health technology assessment (HTA), has gained increased recognition. HTA has become a standard policy tool for informing decision makers who must manage the entry and use of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and other technologies (including complex interventions) within health systems, for example, through reimbursement and pricing. Despite increasing attention to HTA activities, there has been no attempt to comprehensively synthesize good practices or emerging good practices to support populationbased decision-making in recent years. After the identification of some good practices through the release of the ISPOR Guidelines Index in 2013, the ISPOR HTA Council identified a need to more thoroughly review existing guidance. The purpose of this effort was to create a basis for capacity building, education, and improved consistency in approaches to HTA-informed decision-making. Our findings suggest that although many good practices have been developed in areas of assessment and some other key aspects of defining HTA processes, there are also many areas where good practices are lacking. This includes good practices in defining the organizational aspects of HTA, the use of deliberative processes, and measuring the impact of HTA. The extent to which these good practices are used and applied by HTA bodies is beyond the scope of this report, but may be of interest to future researchers.

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For the past several years, we have discussed the idea of producing a publication on the history of health technology assessment (HTA). It seemed important to us to develop this history now, while those who lived it can give their own accounts. An exception is Seymour Perry, the first president of ISTAHC and the Director of the first national public program in HTA, the U.S. National Center for Health Care Technology (NCHCT). See the In Memoriam in this issue.