Chapter 2 Critical review of policies, practice and literature

摘要

There is a growing and diverse literature on OIR/AWR2"5 and on when decisions to adopt a technology should be delayed. There is also considerable variation in the terminology used across this literature, which reflects the different decision contexts, not all of which are relevant to NICE. There is a need to critically review this literature to distil any common themes and core principles relevant to the NICE context. The main purpose of the review is to help to inform the development of a unifying conceptual framework within which these themes and principles can be located and understood. This, in turn, will enable a consistent and clear terminology to be established which will assist clarity in subsequent policy debates and may provide NICE with useful definitions and terminology that can be used in communicating its guidance, considerations and methods. The specific aims of the review were: to review alternative terminologies and taxonomies used to describe and classify approaches to OIR/AWR and to establish their relevance to the NICE context to identify any common themes and principles discussed in relation to OIR/AWR.