TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN HOSPITALS: LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN EMPIRICAL EXPERIMENT

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Health Technology Assessment
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Hospital-based Health Technology Assessment (HBHTA) is crucial for informing hospital-level decision-making.
• Policymakers, managers, and professionals require efficient HBHTA practices.
• The Lombardy Region developed the IMPAQHTA framework to address this need.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the efficiency, feasibility, utility, and completeness of the IMPAQHTA framework for hospital-based health technology assessment.
• To evaluate the framework's suitability for informing hospital decision-making.
• To assess the quantitative information provided by the HBHTA tool.

Main Methods:

• The IMPAQHTA framework was implemented at the hospital level, integrated with the Regional HTA program.
• A 3-year empirical experiment involved 74 healthcare professionals across 22 hospitals.
• Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and self-reported questionnaires.

Main Results:

• The HBHTA framework demonstrated suitability for the Italian hospital context, enabling quick assessments (11 working days).
• It provided relevant and quantitative information for hospital decision-makers.
• Feasibility, utility, completeness, and ease of use were found to be satisfactory.

Conclusions:

• The IMPAQHTA framework is a complete and feasible HBHTA tool.
• It is replicable across different technologies and hospital settings.
• Hospitals can conduct comprehensive HTA with adequate tools and quantitative metrics.