A Determination of Topics for Health Technology Assessment in Thailand: Making Decision Makers Involved
Chanida Lertpitakpong MA*, Usa Chaikledkaew MA, PhD*,**, Montarat Thavorncharoensap PhD*,**, Sripen Tantivess PhD*, Naiyana Praditsitthikorn MSc*, Sitaporn Youngkong MSc*, Jomkwan Yothasamut MA*, Kanchanart Udomsuk MA*, Kongkoch Sinthitichai*, Yot Teerawattananon MD, PhD*
Affiliation : * Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi ** Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok
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 com- prised 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 decision- makers; 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 stake- holders; 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
