Medical technologies (HTA) |
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Note: This research area has been transfered by April 2006 to a newly founded Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Health Technology Assessment and will not be continued at ITA until further notice! Increasing economic pressure on the Austrian health care system and the subsequent need for evaluative knowledge have led to Health Technology Assessment (HTA) becoming the main research focus area in the field of medical technology. HTA is not only a fast growing discipline internationally, but in Austria too the demand for scientific advice for decision-making authorities in the area of health care politics has increased rapidly over the past few years. In a public health care system which gives all citizens equal access to health services HTA aims to contain costs by supporting decisions on the effectiveness of medical treatments or the appropriate application or limitation of such interventions. More than in other areas which deal with the assessment of technological consequences, the field of HTA is an application-oriented instrument for scientifically advising politicians. It combines and evaluates in an interdisciplinary way all that is known about new as well as established medical interventions. The past few years have been dedicated to setting up and organising the HTA research area. The following elements were prerequisite: intensive scientific public relations, establishing and maintenance of networks for decision-making authorities as well as the realisation of fast reactive assessments. This period of offering purely reactive advice for decision makers will be followed by a period of reflection and of intensifying the results already achieved.
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