Co-ordinating health technology assessment in Canada: a European perspective

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is well-established in Canada, with both a national co-ordinating office for HTA and several provincial HTA organisations. The success of and relationship between these agencies, may provide useful lessons for policy-makers considering how to facilitate increased co-operation and harmonisation of HTA activity across Europe. Interviews were conducted with a number of key individuals associated with HTA in Canada to identify achievements, examine the relationship between the provincial agencies and the national co-ordinating office, and detect barriers to the increased use of HTA knowledge in decision-making.