Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2024 Nov 5;40(1):e49. doi: 10.1017/S0266462324000564.
A conceptual framework, called Innovation of Health Technology Assessment Methods (IHTAM), has been developed to facilitate the understanding of how to innovate methods of health technology assessment (HTA). However, the framework applicability has not been evaluated in practice. Hence, we aimed to explore framework applicability in three cases of method innovation that are part of the HTx project and to develop a roadmap to improve framework applicability.
The IHTAM framework was applied to three cases of innovating HTA methods. We collected feedback from case study leaders and consortium members after a training session, an approximately 1-year follow-up of periodic case study meetings, and a general assembly meeting where innovation progresses of the three cases were reported through surveys and interviews. Feedback was then summarized using an open-coding technique.
According to feedback, the framework provided a structured way of deliberation and helped to improve collaboration among HTA stakeholders. However, framework applicability could be improved if it was complemented by a roadmap with a loop structure to provide tailored guidance for different cases, and with items to elaborate actions to be taken by stakeholders. Accordingly, a 48-item roadmap was developed.
The IHTAM framework was generally applicable to the three case studies. A roadmap, with loop structure and actionable items, could complement the framework, and may provide HTA stakeholders with tailored guidance on developing new methods. To further examine the framework applicability, we recommend stakeholders to apply the IHTAM framework and its roadmap in future practice.
开发了一个名为“卫生技术评估方法创新框架（IHTAM）”的概念框架，以帮助理解如何创新卫生技术评估（HTA）方法。然而，该框架在实践中的适用性尚未得到评估。因此，我们旨在通过探索 HTx 项目中方法创新的三个案例来研究框架的适用性，并制定改善框架适用性的路线图。
将 IHTAM 框架应用于三种创新 HTA 方法的案例中。在培训会议之后、大约为期一年的定期案例会议随访期间以及通过调查和访谈报告三个案例的创新进展的全体会议上，我们从案例研究负责人和联盟成员那里收集了反馈意见。然后使用开放式编码技术对反馈意见进行总结。
根据反馈意见，该框架提供了一种深思熟虑的结构化方法，并有助于改善 HTA 利益相关者之间的合作。但是，如果框架能够通过具有循环结构的路线图得到补充，为不同的案例提供量身定制的指导，并详细说明利益相关者应采取的行动，那么框架的适用性可以得到提高。因此，制定了一个包含 48 个项目的路线图。
IHTAM 框架总体上适用于这三个案例研究。具有循环结构和可操作项目的路线图可以补充该框架，并为 HTA 利益相关者提供制定新方法的量身定制指导。为了进一步检验框架的适用性，我们建议利益相关者在未来的实践中应用 IHTAM 框架及其路线图。
