"In our efforts to serve decision makers we should remember that most decisions on the use of health technologies are made at the clinical level."



History and structure
DACEHTA (formerly DIHTA) was established under the auspices of the Ministry of Health in 1997 as an independent, state-financed institute in the National Board of Health. DIHTA changed name to DACEHTA due to a merger in 2001 with the Danish Hospital Evaluation Centre.
The inter-disciplinary professional staff represents fields such as medicine, public health, economics, sociology, library and information science, communication and political science. The centre has a scientific advisory board that consists of researchers from health sciences, social sciences and humanities. The aim of the Scientific Board is to act as scientific and methodical adviser to DACEHTA.
Besides being the national HTA agency, DACEHTA hosts the Health Information Services, covering Documentation of Prevention and Health Promotion and Library Services.

Mission
DACEHTA's overall mission regarding HTA is to implement the National Strategy for Health Technology Assessment. The strategy was developed by major health care stakeholders and published in 1996. The principal objective is to establish HTA as a solid and comprehensive basis for decision-making and to integrate the principles of HTA at all levels of health care. The strategy aims at ensuring that HTA is integrated with operational and planning procedures - centrally, regionally, and locally - at institutional, political, administrative, clinical, and academic levels.

How DACEHTA works
DACEHTA has a broad approach to HTA - focusing on organizational and social aspects as well as on clinical and economic effectiveness. DACEHTA puts an emphasis on creating close links between HTA and decision-making by participating in and contributing to the national, regional and local "policy - HTA - policy" loops.  DACEHTA's strategic and activity plans are discussed with the National Board of Health and the scientific advisory board and act as guidelines for priority setting in day-to-day operations. DACEHTA uses ad hoc expert groups, commissioning and granting mechanisms to produce and support relevant HTA projects. DACEHTA also seeks to develop a network of clinical and research environments that have HTA capabilities. External peer review is incorporated as a routine to assure quality of draft reports.

Dissemination activities
Furthering implementation of HTA is explicitly included among DACEHTA's obligations. DACEHTA's e-mail services, newsletters, the "Health Technology Assessment Handbook", and Publications database are means to ensure that HTA-relevant information is brought to the attention of decision-makers at all levels of health care.
Most often the mere dissemination of HTA results is not enough to secure their integration into policy making and clinical practice. Thus DACEHTA seeks to expand collaboration with the "end users" of HTA results.

Current projects (a selection)

• HTA on dialysis of chronic kidney disease
• HTA on preventive health interviews and examination in general practice  
• HTA on treatment of alcohol abuse 
• HTA on diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome
• HTA on x-ray of the lower back of younger patients (20-49y) - a potentially obsolete use of a health technology 
• HTA on heart rehabilitation in hospital settings
• Accelerated assessments on cancer drugs

A full list of DACEHTA's ongoing and completed projects can be found in the Danish HTA Projects Database at www.dacehta.dk.

Since January 2006 DACEHTA is leading the Europear Union project EUnetHTA (European Network for HTA) and is hosting EUnetHTA's secretariat.

Future plans
It is DACEHTA's vision that all major national health policies are based on considerations related to HTA.
Besides participating in EUnetHTA, DACEHTA will continue to support and participate in other international collaboration such as INAHTA, HTAi, Nordic collaboration, and the Cochrane Collaboration, where appropriate.