The International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment
Health care decision making requires the right evidence at the right time. Every day there are new health technologies available that can improve patient outcomes and refine health system efficiency. Health technology assessment (HTA) is a tool to review technologies and provide evidence of the value these technologies can deliver to patients and their families, health system stakeholders, and to society more broadly.
INAHTA is a network of 51 HTA agencies that support health system decision making that affects over 1 billion people in 32 countries around the globe. With more than 2,100 staff and consultants working in the INAHTA network, there are clear benefits to connecting these agencies together to cooperate and share information about producing and disseminating HTA reports for evidence based decision making.
INAHTA serves this purpose.
What is Health Technology Assessment (HTA)?
HTA is the systematic evaluation of the properties and effects of a health technology, addressing the direct and intended effects of this technology, as well as its indirect and unintended consequences, and aimed mainly at informing decision making regarding health technologies. HTA is conducted by interdisciplinary groups that use explicit analytical frameworks drawing on a variety of methods.
A health technology is defined as an intervention that may be used to promote health, to prevent, diagnose or treat acute or chronic disease, or for rehabilitation. Health technologies include pharmaceuticals, devices, procedures and organizational systems used in health care.
Resources:
International HTA Glossary
