General Essays

The health technology assessment adaptation toolkit: Description and use

Sheila Turner^a1, Deborah L. Chase^a1, Ruairidh Milne^a1, Andrew Cook^a1, Nicholas J. Hicks^a1, Claire Rosten^a2, Liz Payne^a3, Suzanne Coles^a3 and Eleanor Bell^a3

for the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA)

^a4

^a1 University of Southampton

^a2 University of Brighton

^a3 University of Southampton

^a4 National Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment (NCCHTA)

Abstract

Objectives: Adapting health technology assessment (HTA) reports for different contexts could reduce the need for multiple reports on the same health technology with resultant saving of time and resources. This article describes an instrument, the adaptation toolkit, which has been developed to aid in the process of adaptation of HTA reports.

Methods: The toolkit was developed by a partnership of HTA agencies and networks from across Europe. The role of the toolkit is to guide the user through the process of selecting possible relevant material from these report(s), assessing the relevance, reliability, and transferability of the material, and adapting it for the desired context.

Results: The adaptation toolkit has been developed, it comprises a collection of resources that help the user assess whether data and information in existing HTA reports should and could be adapted for their own setting. The toolkit contains two sections: a preliminary speedy sifting section and the main toolkit. The main toolkit includes five domains: (i) technology use and development, (ii) safety, (iii) effectiveness (including efficacy), (iv) economic evaluation, and (v) organizational aspects. Legal, ethical, and social aspects are beyond the scope of the toolkit. The toolkit is designed for the adaptation of evidence synthesis rather than primary research.

Conclusions: The completed current version of the toolkit contains checklists and resources to aid in the adaptation of HTA reports. This collection of resources is available for use by all HTA agencies and can be accessed at: http://www.eunethta.net/upload/WP5/EUnetHTA_HTA_Adaptation_Toolkit_October08.pdf..

Keywords:

• Adaptation;
• Health technology assessment;
• Toolkit;
• EUnetHTA

Footnotes

This study was undertaken within the framework of the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) project, which was supported by a grant from the European Commission (Grant agreement 2005110 project 790621). This work, although coordinated from NCCHTA in England, was very much a collaborative effort between 29 groups across Europe. Further details and all other acknowledgements can be found in: Kristensen et al. (5). The role of NCCHTA in the EUnetHTA project was jointly funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme (project number 05/52/01). The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. The European Commission and the Department of Health in England are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.