Capacity Building in Agencies for Efficient and Effective Health Technology Assessment

Abstract

The workshop and thus this study would have benefited from a larger variety of stakeholders. Therefore, the conclusions arising from the workshop are not the opinion of a representative sample of HTA professionals. Nonetheless, organizations and speakers were carefully selected to provide a valuable approach to this theme. Thus, these proceedings highlight some of the gaps and needs in the education and training programs offered worldwide and calls for further investigation.

Defining capacity building in the context of HTA: a proposal by the HTAi Scientific Development and Capacity Building Committee

“…The definition of capacity building as used by EUnetHTA was based on the generic definition of UNESCO: “The process by which individuals, organisations, institutions and societies develop abilities (individually and collectively) to perform functions, solve problems and set and achieve objectives” (5). Similar definitions were also used in the recent workshops of HTAi/INAHTA in this area (3;4). The SDCB Committee determined that a more HTA-specific definition would be of use in order to clearly delineate what the term means for HTAi.…”

“…The HTA training and education agenda typically consists of two broad strands: training to understand/implement HTA findings (evidence-based policy and practice, i.e. for the “users” of HTA) and training to conduct HTA. “Hard” and “soft” skills required by HTA users and producers (3–5;16): given the many elements of HTA conduct and application, there are a number of skills that need to be developed by users and producers (refer to 3–5 for lists of these skills). “Hard” (objective/quantifiable) skills are more specific, teachable abilities, and can be measured or defined (such as teaching how to develop an economic model).…”

“…The SDCB began with a review of key documents, notably the output of two HTAi/INAHTA workshops on the topic of HTA agency capacity building (3;4) and the European network for HTA (EUnetHTA) handbook on capacity building (5). This was followed by a nonsystematic review of peer-reviewed and gray literature on capacity building in HTA in order to understand the current state of play.…”

Toward a common understanding of competencies for health technology assessment: enhancing educational and training programs around the globe

“…This means that HTA must be considered within a country's decision context, taking into account the country's priorities, its health system, and its societal and cultural characteristics. HTA information utilization is dependent upon the necessary “hard” and “soft” skills acquired (5), its value for and linkages to policy- and decision-making, and its acceptability in policy and practice. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of HTA and the application across the life cycle (technology inception, pre market, during market approval, post market and disinvestment), a broad range of competencies is required (5;6).…”

Core competencies for ethics experts in health technology assessment

“…Answering the question about the existence and nature of ethics expertise for HTA is not an easy task for several reasons: (i) the concept of “expertise” is unclear; (ii) defining what “ethics” means in the context of HTA is not easy; and (iii) defining the concept of “ethics expertise” in the context of HTA is even more challenging. In addition, the issue of what constitutes ethics expertise in HTA is not addressed systematically in current HTA educational programs (9). Moreover, those working in agencies conducting HTA may not know how to scrutinize the qualifications of self-professed ethics experts.…”