1. Background

The Office of Health Technology Assessment of the National Institute for Strategic Health Research was formed in 2004 with the aim of establishing in Hungary, similarly to other EU member states, an independent institution to support decision-makers in their rational use of healthcare resources, through the provision of analyses and recommendations.
National Institute for Strategic Health Research Office of Health Technology Assessment (pdf) >>

2. Role and duties of the Office of Health Technology Assessment

The Office, as a newly established organisational unit of a highly regarded and long-established institute, provides an organisational framework for the technology assessment that forms the basis for the medicine subsidy approval policy of the National Health Insurance Fund, and performs the related medical and economic assessment duties.

The National Health Insurance Fund makes decisions regarding the granting of subsidies for new medicines, based on the findings presented by the National Institute for Strategic Health Research.

The Office of Health Technology Assessment

determines the professional guidelines for analysing health technology, coordinates the assessment of new and existing technologies, and issues instructions for the use of individual technologies.
based on a combination of clinical evidence, efficacy and cost-effectiveness factors, provides reliable and undistorted information for the appraisal of individual procedures, comparing them with alternative opportunities for the use of resources.
facilitates the appropriate use of cost-effective healthcare technologies, and provides support for decision-makers.

3. Results

The majority of applications were related to anti-tumour drugs and products designed to treat diseases of the cardiovascular or central nervous system.
In addition, the Office performs problem-oriented comparative examinations, such as the comprehensive policy study of Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Gamma-knife Surgery, Coronaria-stents and Oncology.
The specialist work carried out at the Office is the result of effective teamwork by teams of medical and health economics experts.
Decision-makers are supported by our experts during the procedure of social insurance in the case of medical devices in Hungary from the second half of 2007.

4. Summary

In the initial period, staff at the Office of Health Technology Assessment focused primarily on assessments of medicines to determine their eligibility for social insurance funding, but as the new institutional structure becomes more firmly established, it is increasingly able to perform thorough, comprehensive assessments of other health technologies.

Duties of the Health-economics Group are the followings:

checking the veracity of health economics documentation submitted by manufacturers
summarising the relevant Hungarian and international healthcare economics literature
preparing a critical evaluation of the healthcare economics analyses submitted by the applicant, and comparing them with international benchmarks
preparing a summary opinion of the application from a health economics point of view, providing reliable and undistorted information for judging the value of the individual procedures
informing decision-makers of the research findings, without articulating specific subsidy recommendations

Duties of the Medical Group are the followings:

checking of the content of medical documentation submitted by manufacturers (the role and effect of the given medicine in the treatment process, the monitoring of side effects, the results of pivotal clinical trials, factors in favour of the procedure)
summary of the credible Hungarian and international specialist literature pertaining to the clinical efficacy and effectiveness (EBM protocols, meta-analyses, critical analyses) of medicines,
analysis of clinical trials submitted by applicants for medicine subsidies,
preparation of summary medical opinions, the provision of reliable and undistorted information for judging the value of individual procedures
informing decision-makers of the research findings, without articulating specific subsidy recommendations
answering questions of a medical nature that are raised at meetings of the committee making proposals for the approval of medicine subsidies by the National Health Insurance Fund (OEP)

Addition to the above mentioned, the sections prepare other health economics studies to facilitate the rational usage of health resources, and participates in the drafting of medical protocols and statutory provisions. The staff of the groups continously develop their skills through participation in Hungarian and international specialist forums.