Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Michal Stanak, Dr.phil, AKC, Director, NIHO
History and Structure
NIHO is an independent HTA institution that conducts assessments in line with the principles of evidence-based medicine. NIHO is a public institution with statutory funding and obligations which make it independent of politics and influences of the medical technology industry.
NIHO (Národný inštitút pre hodnotu a technológie v zdravotníctve) was established on January 1, 2022. The institute currently employs a dedicated team of approximately 30 staff members. The expertise of NIHO is multidisciplinary, covering the fields of economists, mathematics, biomedical physics, chemistry, pharmacy, medicine, and bioethics.
The NIHO structure also includes the following bodies, each playing an important role in its operations:
- Supervisory Board: The Supervisory Board oversees the activities of NIHO and its director and approves the institute’s budget.
- Scientific Advisory Board: It guides and assists NIHO in its scientific aims and
- Advisory Committee (yet to be set up): The Advisory Committee is to help NIHO understand the interests, motivations, andpreferences of various interest groups in the field of Slovak health care.
Mission
The main task of NIHO is to bring scientific approach and transparency to the process of reimbursement of health technologies in Slovakia. NIHO assesses technologies once marketing authorization holders apply for reimbursement. For this purpose, NIHO studies large amounts of available information on given technology and processes it into an understandable form for decision-makers and health authorities. NIHO is an advisory body of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, and its appraisal committees are responsible for advising reimbursement decision. NIHO calculates the maximum price for which the Slovak Republic is able to reimburse the given technology as the cost-effectiveness threshold in Slovakia is set in law. NIHO does not issue decisions, this competence remains in the hands of the Ministry of Health.
How NIHO Works
NIHO is responsible for answering various questions in the field of health care and thus contributes to a better application of the most up-to-date knowledge.
For our technology assessments and various other assignments, we use the EUnetHTA methodology. Our main outputs are comprehensive single technology assessments of health technologies that are structured according to the methodological framework of the HTA Core Model. We assess dossiers submitted by the pharmaceutical industry. On top of this main pipeline, we have also worked on various more complex topics such as:
- how to set up a sustainable system of exceptional reimbursement of medicines,
- what is the availability of the most beneficial oncology medicines in Slovakia,
- how to set up a system of reimbursement groups,
- how to optimize medical legislation.
Dissemination Activities
NIHO uses its website and its social networks as its main means of communication (www.niho.sk). All NIHO assessments are available electronically and free of charge. Full-text versions of HTA reports and abstracts are available in Slovak.
Future Plans
In August 2024, NIHO was tasked with the assessment of all medicinal products, medical devices, as well as dietetic foods that go through the process of reimbursement. The plan for NIHO is to stabilize its role in the decision-making processes of all the health technologies above and, as member of the HTAR Consortium, to actively participate in European assessments as of January 2024.
Agency Information
Country: Slovakia
Description of population served: National
Population served (mil): 5.4
Current HTA budget (mil USD): 2.38
Ongoing TA projects: Average of 60 full HTAs and 40 rapid HTAs per year
Contact Information
Director: MA. Michal Stanak, Dr.phil, AKC
Contact person: Zuzana Rakovská
National Institute for Value and Technologies in Healthcare
Národný inštitút pre hodnotu a technológie v zdravotníctve
Zámocké schody 2/A
811 01 Bratislava, Slovakia
Tel: +421 911 652 357
Internet: https://niho.sk/
Email: kancelaria@niho.sk