The problem

Health technology assessment (HTA) facilitates the evaluation of therapeutic measures in terms of health outcomes and economic performance. However, the potential of HTA has yet to be fully realised, because a component to assess innovation is lacking. Therefore, new medical technologies in their early stages may be under-utilised. A methodology is required that enables the most promising advances in medical technology to be assessed comprehensively and exploited as early as possible.

Overview:

Inno-HTA addresses the need for a methodology to predict the potential impact of new medical technologies by expanding HTA to include aspects of innovation.

The project will:

• Adopt a state-of-the-art systems approach to describe the complexities of the innovation process
• Compare different approaches to the evaluation of innovations within ‘classical’ HTA
• Develop a broad consensus on assessment criteria and indicators for innovation
• Test and validate a pilot set of indicators for health innovations in case studies
• Deliver a set of indicators to analyse new healthcare technologies at an early stage

Contribution to policy development:

• Inno-HTA will provide a common framework for evaluating medical innovation across Europe.
• It clarifies the risks and potentials of new technologies, and what they could contribute to policy goals.
• It provides support for public funding decisions regarding further R&D expenditure.
• It highlights any ethical problems or areas where regulation may be necessary.

Project deliverables

• Definition of "medical innovation", overview of assessment methods, and lists of potential innovation indicators and experts in the field – April-June 2007
• First set of indicators for the assessment of healthcare innovations – October 2007
• Report on the validity and feasibility of indicators based on case studies – March 2008
• List of recommendations from experts' perspective – August 2008
• Interim and Final Reports – December 2007/2008

Dissemination

• Project website – March 2007
• Project presentation – March 2007
• Workshops – May 2007, June and December 2008
• Interim meetings of the project consortium – May and December 2007, June and December 2008
• Information leaflets, targeted at different stakeholder groups – September 2008
• Report on raising public participation and awareness – December 2008

Technical information

Project acronym: Inno-HTA
Project’s official full title: HTA-methodology for innovative healthcare technologies
Research priority: Health determinants and the provision of high quality and sustainable health care services and pension systems (in particular in the context of ageing and demographic change)
Specific webpage: http://www.inno-hta.eu
Proposal/contract no: 044390
Start date: January 2007
Kick off meeting: January 2007
Completion date: December 2008
European Commission scientific officer: Jan Paehler, Jan.PAEHLER@ec.europa.eu

Coordinator:
Name: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Abbreviated name: Fraunhofer
Address: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI)
Country: Germany
Tel: +49 721 6809 182
Fax: +49 721 6809 315
Website: http://www.isi.fraunhofer.de/

Partners

Name: University of Luebeck, Institute for Social Medicine
Abbreviated name: UL-IfSM
Country: Germany

Name: Institute for the Study of Genetics, Biorisks and Society, University of Nottingham
Abbreviated name: UNOTT
Country: United Kingdom

Name: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Health Technology Assessment
Abbreviated name: LBI@HTA
Country: Austria

Name: Danish Centre for Health Technology Assessment, National Board of Health
Abbreviated name: DACEHTA
Country: Denmark

Name: Health Statistics and Medical Technologies State Agency
Abbreviated name: VSMTA
Country: Latvia

Name: GSF - Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit GmbH
Abbreviated name: GSF
Country: Germany