EUnetHTA relative effectiveness assessments: efforts to increase usability, transparency and inclusiveness.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) Joint Action 3 (JA3) was to develop a sustainable European model for future collaboration on HTA, by reducing duplication in HTA production and increasing patient access to health technologies. Compared to the previous JA2, several procedural changes were made aiming to increase usability, transparency, and inclusiveness of relative effectiveness assessments (REAs). This article presents and highlights these changes, explains their rationale as well as their influence on HTA production. METHODS: Feedback from REA teams and project managers was collected. At the end of JA3, all lessons learned were mapped, resulting in a set of recommendations for a future REA production process. RESULTS: In JA3, forty-three EUnetHTA REAs have been produced. Efforts to increase the usability of the REAs were made by focussing on the needs of REA producers and users (HTA agencies) and by increasing stakeholder involvement. Huge steps were taken with regard to transparency, which was achieved through publication of guidances, templates, and up-to-date information on the EUnetHTA website. In an attempt to improve inclusiveness, (stakeholder) interaction and involvement as well as feedback procedures were enhanced and streamlined. The fine-tuned project management brought all aspects together and facilitated a consistent and reliable workflow. CONCLUSIONS: Despite that HTA agencies have different national requirements, the procedural changes made in JA3 proved to counteract some of these challenges. Nevertheless, it is of utmost importance that further perceived methodological differences are being resolved to ensure a strong base for future European collaboration on REA production.

Developing a quality management system for the European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA): toward European HTA collaboration.

OBJECTIVES: The European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) was established in 2006 and comprises over eighty organizations from thirty European countries. In its fifth project phase (Joint Action 3), EUnetHTA set up a quality management system (QMS) to improve the efficiency and standardization of joint work. This article presents EUnetHTA's new QMS and outlines experiences and challenges during its implementation. METHODS: Several working groups defined processes and methods to support assessment teams in creating high-quality assessment reports. Existing guidelines, templates, and tools were refined and missing parts were newly created and integrated into the new QMS framework. EUnetHTA has contributed to Health Technology Assessment (HTA) capacity building through training and knowledge sharing. Continuous evaluation helped to identify gaps and shortcomings in processes and structures. RESULTS: Based on a common quality management concept and defined development and revision procedures, twenty-seven partner organizations jointly developed and maintained around forty standard operating procedures and other components of the QMS. All outputs were incorporated into a web-based platform, the EUnetHTA Companion Guide, which was launched in May 2018. Concerted efforts of working groups were required to ensure consistency and avoid duplication. CONCLUSIONS: With the establishment of a QMS for jointly produced assessment reports, EUnetHTA has taken a significant step toward a sustainable model for scientific and technical collaboration within European HTA. However, the definition of processes and methods meeting the numerous requirements of healthcare systems across Europe remains an ongoing and challenging task.

Personalizing health care: feasibility and future implications.

Considerable variety in how patients respond to treatments, driven by differences in their geno- and/ or phenotypes, calls for a more tailored approach. This is already happening, and will accelerate with developments in personalized medicine. However, its promise has not always translated into improvements in patient care due to the complexities involved. There are also concerns that advice for tests has been reversed, current tests can be costly, there is fragmentation of funding of care, and companies may seek high prices for new targeted drugs. There is a need to integrate current knowledge from a payer's perspective to provide future guidance. Multiple findings including general considerations; influence of pharmacogenomics on response and toxicity of drug therapies; value of biomarker tests; limitations and costs of tests; and potentially high acquisition costs of new targeted therapies help to give guidance on potential ways forward for all stakeholder groups. Overall, personalized medicine has the potential to revolutionize care. However, current challenges and concerns need to be addressed to enhance its uptake and funding to benefit patients.

Dabigatran - a continuing exemplar case history demonstrating the need for comprehensive models to optimize the utilization of new drugs.

BACKGROUND: There are potential conflicts between authorities and companies to fund new premium priced drugs especially where there are effectiveness, safety and/or budget concerns. Dabigatran, a new oral anticoagulant for the prevention of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF), exemplifies this issue. Whilst new effective treatments are needed, there are issues in the elderly with dabigatran due to variable drug concentrations, no known antidote and dependence on renal elimination. Published studies showed dabigatran to be cost-effective but there are budget concerns given the prevalence of AF. These concerns resulted in extensive activities pre- to post-launch to manage its introduction. OBJECTIVE: To (i) review authority activities across countries, (ii) use the findings to develop new models to better manage the entry of new drugs, and (iii) review the implications based on post-launch activities. METHODOLOGY: (i) Descriptive review and appraisal of activities regarding dabigatran, (ii) development of guidance for key stakeholder groups through an iterative process, (iii) refining guidance following post launch studies. RESULTS: Plethora of activities to manage dabigatran including extensive pre-launch activities, risk sharing arrangements, prescribing restrictions and monitoring of prescribing post launch. Reimbursement has been denied in some countries due to concerns with its budget impact and/or excessive bleeding. Development of a new model and future guidance is proposed to better manage the entry of new drugs, centering on three pillars of pre-, peri-, and post-launch activities. Post-launch activities include increasing use of patient registries to monitor the safety and effectiveness of new drugs in clinical practice. CONCLUSION: Models for introducing new drugs are essential to optimize their prescribing especially where concerns. Without such models, new drugs may be withdrawn prematurely and/or struggle for funding.

Dabigatran - a case history demonstrating the need for comprehensive approaches to optimize the use of new drugs.

BACKGROUND: There are potential conflicts between authorities and companies to fund new premium priced drugs especially where there are safety and/or budget concerns. Dabigatran, a new oral anticoagulant for the prevention of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF), exemplifies this issue. Whilst new effective treatments are needed, there are issues in the elderly with dabigatran due to variable drug concentrations, no known antidote and dependence on renal elimination. Published studies have shown dabigatran to be cost-effective but there are budget concerns given the prevalence of AF. There are also issues with potentially re-designing anticoagulant services. This has resulted in activities across countries to better manage its use. OBJECTIVE: To (i) review authority activities in over 30 countries and regions, (ii) use the findings to develop new models to better manage the entry of new drugs, and (iii) review the implications for all major stakeholder groups. METHODOLOGY: Descriptive review and appraisal of activities regarding dabigatran and the development of guidance for groups through an iterative process. RESULTS: There has been a plethora of activities among authorities to manage the prescribing of dabigatran including extensive pre-launch activities, risk sharing arrangements, prescribing restrictions, and monitoring of prescribing post-launch. Reimbursement has been denied in some countries due to concerns with its budget impact and/or excessive bleeding. Development of a new model and future guidance is proposed to better manage the entry of new drugs, centering on three pillars of pre-, peri-, and post-launch activities. CONCLUSION: Models for introducing new drugs are essential to optimize their prescribing especially where there are concerns. Without such models, new drugs may be withdrawn prematurely and/or struggle for funding.

Documentation of hip prostheses used in Norway: a critical review of the literature from 1996--2000.

We have conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature concerning outcome and clinical effectiveness of prostheses used for primary total hip replacement (THR) in Norway. The study is based on two Health Technology Assessment reports from the UK (Faulkner et al. 1998, Fitzpatrick et al. 1998), reviewing the literature from 1980 to 1995. Using a similar search strategy, we have evaluated the literature from 1996 through 2000. We included 129 scientific and medical publications which were assessed according to a specific appraisal protocol. The majority (72%) were observational studies, whereas only 9% were randomized studies. We could not retrieve any peer-reviewed documentation for one third of the implants. The Charnley prosthesis had by far the best and most comprehensive evidence base with better than 90% implant survival after about 10 years. Survival of the Charnley prosthesis declines by about 10% during each of the two following decades. Except for the Charnley and Lubinus IP, no other prosthesis on the market in Norway has given long-term results (> 15 years). 5 other cemented implants have given comparable results at about 10 years of follow-up. Some uncemented stems have shown promising medium-term outcome, but no combination of uncemented cup and stem fulfilled the benchmark criterion of > or = 90% implant survival at 10 years, which we propose as a minimum requirement for unrestricted clinical use for prostheses used in primary THR. New or undocumented implants should be introduced through a four-step model including preclinical testing, small series evaluated by radiosterometry, randomized clinical trial involving comparison with a well-documented prosthesis, and finally, surveillance of clinical use through registers.