[Health technology assessment in the international context: where does Germany stand? For the "German Scientific Working Group Technology Assessment for Health care"].

The evaluation of medical technologies, Health Technology Assessment (HTA), is gaining more and more importance in Germany. Starting from a comprehensive definition of the term medical technology, this article first describes the development of HTA since the seventies as an instrument for improving decision-making in health policy. HTA is presented as a repetitive cycle of a sequence of steps starting with the prioritization of topics to be evaluated to the analysis of the impact of the results. Current trends in the further improvement of HTA methods are described, such as the formalization of the topic selection. The current situation in Germany is presented with regard to the regulation of licensing/market entry, coverage by the statutory health insurance, and the utilization of medical technologies. Finally, current activities in the field of HTA in Germany as well as the role of the German Scientific Working Group Technology Assessment for Health Care are discussed.