This study is to describe experiences and findings from the topic selection process for health technology
assessment (HTA) conducted by Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program. The process comprised
of 5 stages namely: 1) determining objectives, scope and involved stakeholders; 2) requesting potential
topics for assessment from decision makers at the national health authorities; 3) reviewing related literature
on and prioritizing the proposed HTA topics by HITAP researchers; 4) selecting the HTA topics by decisionmakers;
5) analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the current topic selection processes by HITAP staff. The
strengths of the topic selection were systematic and transparent. It also required participation from stakeholders;
however, the limitations were topics prioritization methods and time constraints. Lessons learnt from
this procedure can be useful for improving the next HTA topic selection in order to increase the usefulness of
the future HTA results.

Keywords: Health technology assessment, Health policy, Health priority, Health care rationing, Biomedical
technology