Osteba_flag  Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain


– Dr. Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea, Director, OSTEBA

 

History and Structure

Osteba was established in June 1992. It is accountable to the Health Research and Innovation Directorate of the Ministry for Health in the Basque Country.

Osteba is funded from the Ministry for Health budget. Advisory committees provide scientific support and identify priorities in a structured way. Osteba works in close collaboration with epidemiology research units and the Drug Information Centre.

Osteba’s reports are used by the Ministry for Health  and the Basque Health Service-Osakidetza for policy making and by hospitals, clinicians and private care providers to improve medical practice and the organization of healthcare delivery.

Mission

  • To contribute to the appropriate use of existing and future health technology
  • To provide information on safety, efficacy, effectiveness, accessibility, and equity about different technologies, as required by decision makers in the Basque Country.

How OSTEBA Works

Most of the work is conducted in-house in collaboration with expert panels and external professionals who may be physicians, economists, epidemiologists, lawyers, or ethicists, usually coming from the Basque Ministry for Health, Universities and the Basque public health service. The reports are based on systematic reviews and cost analyses and include context related aspects.

Osteba has its own early warning system ‘Sortek’ linked to the prioritization process for assessment and is the co-ordinator of the Spanish Network for New and Emerging Technologies, ‘GENTECS’.

Osteba is member of the following networks: INAHTA, HTA-i, EUnetHTA, EuroScan, G-I-N, ADAPT, AEETS, AUnETS, Guiasalud, PHGEN and HEN and collaborates in several European Union projects.

Dissemination Activities

Osteba publishes full assessment reports, mini HTA reports, methodological guides, Clinical Practices Guidelines (GPG) and a newsletter “Osteba Berriak”. These are disseminated by direct mailing and the Web site. Press releases are produced for each report.

Osteba also gives courses and lectures to clinicians and policy makers, and collaborates in several MSc and PhD programs. In this way, Osteba coordinates a series of training activities on the methodology of health services research and assessment.

Current Projects (A Selection)

  • Spanish information network for identification, prioritization and early assessment of new and emerging health technologies
  • Spanish information network for the identification, prioritization and delisting of obsolete technologies in hospitals
  • Monitoring systems, methodological approach
  • Optimizing the information sources to be consulted in the HTA agencies
  • Analysis of costs and results of telemedicine implementation in primary and specialized health care services
  • Clinical Practice Guideline on breast feeding
  • Recommendations on the treatment of children with hyperactivity disorder
  • Recommendations for the rational implementation of Genomics in the Basque Health System
  • Clinical Practice Guidelines in Primary Care

Future Plans

  • To promote the evaluative culture and evidence-based medicine among policy makers and clinicians
  • To intensify collaborative projects at a local and international level
  • To improve dissemination strategies and the impact of the HTA products
  • To reinforce links with regulatory bodies as well as safety and quality improvement policies
  • To improve the process of CPG development and implementation
  • To support new initiatives in HTA developing countries
  • To assess the impact of innovations in Health Care Systems
  • To develop methodological tools for the assessment of new and obsolete technologies
  • To develop methodological tools for the implementation of monitoring systems

 

Agency Information

OSTEBA

Country: Spain
Description of population served: Basque Region
Population served (mil): 2.1
Current HTA budget (mil USD): 2.8
Permanent staff: 14
Consultants: 80+
Ongoing TA projects: 20

Contact Information

Director: Dr. Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea
Contact person: Dr. Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea

BIOEF (Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research)
Basque Office for Health Technology Assessment, OSTEBA
Torre del BEC, Ronda de Azkue, 1
48902 Barakaldo
Bizkaia, Spain

Tel: +34 94 453 6896
Fax: +34 94 453 0465
Internet: http://www.euskadi.eus/web01-a2ikeost/en/  (English)  http://www.euskadi.eus/tecnologias-sanitarias-osteba/ (Spanish)
Email: igutierrezibarluzea@bioef.org