This is INAHTA
History and structure
INAHTA was established in 1993 and has now grown to 57 member agencies from 32 countries. The Network stretches from North and Latin America to Europe, Asia, and Australasia. The Board and Executive Committee of INAHTA oversee the work of the Secretariat and implementation of the approved workplan.
View INAHTA's Organizational Structure.
How INAHTA works
Most activities are coordinated by the Secretariat. The membership meets yearly and participates in various working groups throughout the year. The Annual Meeting is held in conjunction with the HTAi Conference. In 2008 SBU was elected to continue to serve as Network Secretariat until Dec 2011. DIMDI-DAHTA was in 2011 elected to take over the secretariat from the beginning of 2012. The Executive Committee and Board are elected for 2-year terms. Currently there is an Interim Secretariat at SBU and ASERNIP-S, until a new Secretariat is voted in at the June 2013 Annual Meeting.
Dissemination activities
INAHTA's key communication form is Internet. The INAHTA website and Members-only section include information about on-going activities.
The Brief series is intended as a forum for member agencies to present overviews of recently published reports. INAHTA Briefs are published regularly and placed on the INAHTA website as soon as they become available.
HTA Checklists are an aid to furthering a consistent and transparent approach to HTA. They also provide information on the purpose, methods, and contents of an HTA report.
Joint projects involve the member agencies in collaborative efforts to evaluate medical technologies of mutual interest. The INAHTA report on PET was updated and published in the Intl J Technolgy Assessment in Health Care in 2006. A Synthesis report was published 1999 and contains a summary and analysis of five reports on preoperative evaluation from INAHTA agencies.
INAHTA also produces a newsletter in three languages on current initiatives and activities among member agencies, new projects within the Network, recent developments and trends in health policy research, publications in the field, and upcoming events.
Other means of dissemination include participation in international conferences, workshops, exhibitions, and educational activities and seminars.
Current projects
Throughout the year members collaborate in working groups on
- External partnerships including international and regional organizations (eg EuroScan, EUnetHTA, HTAi, PAHO, WHO)
- Industry relations to increase awareness of INAHTA
- Internal communication and enhancing exchange of information including a list of planned and prospective projects
- Impact of HTA, consumer involvement, and variation in findings between HTAs on the same topic
- Quality assurance and developing guidance to rapid reviews and evidence tables
- Education and training and translations of INAHTA‘s HTA glossary
Future plans
- Enhance the work of INAHTA through the working groups
- Investigate potential and improve existing collaboration with other international organizations
- Improve our internal communication
- Systematically exchange information on the impact of HTA
- Better use of each other's work
- Provide training in HTA and develop the "adopt an agency" concept
- And much more.