HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT – IS IT THE WAY TO SEARCH FOR COST – EFFECTIVE MEDICINES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE?

 Marcin Czech

Abstract. Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a multidisciplinary process that summarizes information about medical, social, economic and ethical issues related to the use of a health technology in a systematic, transparent, unbiased, robust manner. HTA constitutes an integral part of a decision making process covering, among others, pricing and reimbursement of drugs and medical devices in Central and Eastern Europe.

In this review I describe the main definitions and elements of HTA placed in a context of healthcare systems’ reforms with a special emphasis on budget control tools in the Region. I also give information on some model solutions, brief history, main limitations, challenges and conditions of further development of the domain, together with some discussion from the pharmaceutical industry’s perspective.

Keywords:Health Technology Assessment, HTA, Pharmacoeconomics, Central and Eastern Europe, Evidence – Based Medicine.

JEL Classification: I180.

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Marcin Czech, MD, Associate Professor

Department of Pharmacoeconomics

Faculty of Pharmacy

Medical University of Warsaw

Poland

marcin.czech@wum.edu.pl