[:pb]O The complex process of incorporating technologies in the healthcare area has as a fundamental tool, the Healthcare Technology Assessments (HTA). Used in several countries, they consist of the analysis of clinical and economic studies to support recommendations and decision-making. Although they are more commonly seen as tools aimed at a macro sphere of the healthcare sector, such as public or private healthcare systems, HTAs have also been shown to be strategic tools for smaller organizations such as hospitals.

The way HTAs are used in this context can follow different models, according to the needs and reality of each organization, but their role is the same: to supply the management with accurate and quality information to support decision making, seeking the best benefit and optimizing costs. Learn more, in this article, about the use of HTA in hospitals.

HTA in hospitals

The use of HTA in hospitals is considered a recent practice because, although it has been used for some decades, there is still not much clarity about the results of decisions based on this type of assessment in the hospital context.

The importance of HTAs for the basis of decisions at the macro level is already consolidated in the health sector, especially for public systems, as is the case of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), where this type of assessment is mandatory for the incorporation of technologies.

However, when applied in the hospital context, it takes into account the importance and value of a given technology within its own organizational structure, allowing managers to use it as a basis to deal with three different types of demands with which they are constantly requested:

• The sector authorities are increasingly demanding from hospitals and other health facilities improvements in microeconomic efficiency (efficiency and effectiveness) as a fundamental point to improve macroeconomic efficiency (of the system as a whole). Thus, decisions about adoption, investment and divestment in technologies become more and more responsibility of organizations;
• The context has gained greater relevance for decision-making on the use of health technologies, especially in the process of standardizing medicines, procedures and medical-hospital materials in institutions. Therefore, it is important that the analyzes are carried out within the reality of each organizational structure;
• The growing diffusion of the culture of evidence-based medicine, for which it would be interesting to have an internal structure in hospitals to deal with ATS, facilitating the use of scientific data for this type of study.

HTA models in hospitals

There are different ways to implement the practice of HTA in hospitals. The Global Survey of Hospital-Based HTA, considered today to be one of the most complete documents on the subject, mentions four different models. They are:

• Ambassador model: professionals recognized as “opinion makers” act as ambassadors for HTA messages within the hospital. They do not need to participate in evaluations, but they have a fundamental role in disseminating the results within the organization;
• Mini-HTA: a single professional performs data collection at the hospital to inform decision makers;
• Internal committee: in this HTA model, information is produced by multidisciplinary groups, called committees. These groups represent different perspectives and are responsible for reviewing the evidence to make recommendations that may be helpful to the hospital. Usually professionals don’t work full-time for HTA;
• HTA unit: this model, yes, consists of a specialized team, focused solely on carrying out the assessments. It is the highest level of structure for HTA in hospitals.

The Importance of Budget Impact Analysis

One of the main tools of an HTA, budget impact analysis (AIO) is also a powerful tool for hospital managers. It allows you to assess what the new costs entailed by the incorporation of a certain technology would be, which helps managers to forecast the budget.

To learn more about the importance of HTAs in the process of incorporating health technologies, download the e-book MAPES: Cases &Soluções.[:]