Objectives and scope
Objectives
According to Swiss HTA Consensus, HTA in Switzerland should provide effective support to health care decision makers in charge of reimbursement and pricing of interventions within the national system of compulsory health insurance (Obligatorische Krankenpflegeversicherung, OKP) and regular reevaluation of any such decisions. The objectives of HTA further include the identification of evidence gaps and research needs, and the provision of information supporting policies to ensure fair access of the Swiss population to high quality, effective and efficient health care interventions.
Scope
In the context of Swiss HTA Consensus, “health technology” is under-stood as a comprehensive concept including (without any claim to being an exhaustive list) all interventions proposed and performed by health professionals and aiming at the improvement of the health of individuals and populations, e.g., medicines, medical devices, dia-gnostic measures, medical and surgical procedures, complex clinical care pathways and organizational and administrative settings.
1. A Broad Technology Focus
HTAs should address both new and established (existing) technologies. New technologies are covered by a rapid-HTA process (“rHTA”). A particularly high potential for efficiency and quality improvement can be expected among existing technologies. These are covered by a special complete HTA program (“cHTA”). Topics for evaluation by means of cHTA should be selected following a transparent process according to criteria including (but not limited to) cost of illness and budgetary impact, prevalence and burden of disease, ongoing controversy regarding effectiveness, or the wish to inform the imminent development of clinical guidelines in a specific field.
2. HTA at the National Level
HTAs should not only contribute to improved efficiency of health care delivery but be an efficient use of resources them-selves. Swiss HTA Consensus thus recommends that HTAs be conducted at the national level. This should further help to avoid regional differences in patient access to health care services due to diverging technology assessments at multiple levels.