Value of health technologies, HTA and decisions

Valore delle tecnologie sanitarie, HTA, decisioni

Abstract

HTA is a multifaceted discipline, and several themes are key to an in-depth analysis of its current and future role in shaping access of new health technologies. The first theme is an accurate definition of innovation (added value); the second is how innovation can be assessed to support an efficient allocation of scarce resources; the third, and perhaps most relevant, is how payers convert health technologies assessement into decisions (reimbursement status, prices and recommendations for their users). In this editorial, each of these themes is briefly discussed with a specific focus on the economic aspects of innovation and the growing role of real world evidence in its definition. Several considerations point to the fact that, without any doubt, HTA will play a critical role in warranting the economic sustainability of the National health system and in properly rewarding innovation adding real value to it.