Improving value for money invested in technologies through hospital-based health technology assessment: A Turkish example

摘要

Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital (ANH) has saved over 2 million Euros in three years with just two projects, simply by using Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methods and principles at hospital level. HTA is a research-based, practice-oriented assessment of relevant available knowledge on both the direct and intended consequences of health technologies as well as indirect and unintended consequences, in the short and long term. Hospital-Based HTA (HB-HTA) means performing HTA activities tailored to the hospital context, to inform managerial decisions on different types of health Technologies. HB-HTA is essential to achieving better value for money spent by the hospital, and has been adopted by many hospitals around the globe. There are available methods and tools for performing HB-HTA. ANH has been the first to invest in HTA in Turkey, with a proven impact which transcends borders. Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital (ANH) has saved over 2 million Euros in three years with just two projects, simply by using Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methods and principles at hospital level. This has had a positive impact on the hospital management and the HTA team. The hospital sets an excellent example on how decisions pertaining to technology use can be rationalized by investing in Hospital-Based HTA (HB-HTA), which clearly facilitates the systematic use of scientific evidence to support hospital managerial decisions on technologies.