Welcome to INAHTA

The International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment

Health care decision making requires the right evidence at the right time.  Every day there are new health technologies available that can improve patient outcomes and refine health system efficiency.   Health technology assessment (HTA) is a tool to review technologies and provide evidence of the value these technologies can deliver to patients and their families, health system stakeholders, and to society more broadly.

INAHTA is a network of 53 HTA agencies that support health system decision making that affects over 1 billion people in 33 countries around the globe. With more than 2,100 staff and consultants working in the INAHTA network, there are clear benefits to connecting these agencies together to cooperate and share information about producing and disseminating HTA reports for evidence based decision making.

INAHTA serves this purpose.

What is Health Technology Assessment (HTA)?

The definition of HTA is provided below, with important clarifying information provided in four accompanying Notes:

HTA is a multidisciplinary process that uses explicit methods to determine the value of a health technology at different points in its lifecycle. The purpose is to inform decision-making in order to promote an equitable, efficient, and high-quality health system.  

Note 1: A health technology is an intervention developed to prevent, diagnose or treat medical conditions; promote health; provide rehabilitation; or organize healthcare delivery. The intervention can be a test, device, medicine, vaccine, procedure, program or system. (Definition from the HTA Glossary)

Note 2: The process is formal, systematic and transparent, and uses state-of-the-art methods to consider the best available evidence.

Note 3: The dimensions of value for a health technology may be assessed by examining the intended and unintended consequences of using a health technology compared to existing alternatives. These dimensions often include clinical effectiveness, safety, costs and economic implications, ethical, social, cultural and legal issues, organisational and environmental aspects, as well as wider implications for the patient, relatives, caregivers, and the population. The overall value may vary depending on the perspective taken, the stakeholders involved, and the decision context.

Note 4: HTA can be applied at different points in the lifecycle of a health technology, i.e., pre-market, during market approval, post-market, through to the disinvestment of a health technology.