News

Welcome to the homepage of AIHTA!
AIHTA is an academic non-profit institute. At our website we wish to present our research and give support for health care decision-making. Here all of our reports are available for free. For further information please contact the AIHTA team.
In the News section you will find our most recent publications: newsletter, project-reports etc. Previous reports you might find via Research areas, Research projects and Repository.
Announcement
Acupuncture - areas of application, current evidence and proven indications
This report provides an overview of possible applications and the current evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture. Recommendations of the WHO and professional associations as well as the results of an overview of Cochrane Reviews are compared with 25 approved indications from the Austrian Health Council (Oberster Sanitätsrat, OSR), an advisory committee for the Ministry of Health and enables to identify indications for which (in)effectiveness is proven.
Publication: LBI-HTA Project report No. 78: https://eprints.aihta.at/1042
Contact: Brigitte Piso
Project / High tech medicine
Evaluation of individual medical procedures - MEL 2015
Project leaders: Claudia Wild
Project co-operation: LBI-HTA staff for individual reviews
Duration: November 2014 – April 2015
Publications
Announcement
Opportunities and strategies to drive appropriate use of MRI in Austria
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an essential component of medical care. Currently, however, the appropriateness of diagnostic imaging is increasingly debated. With more than 100 MRI exams yearly per 1,000 population, Austria is leading in MRI utilisation in comparison to other OECD countries. In database screening, literature review and interviews with stakeholders we aimed to identify recommendations against the use of MRI and opportunities and strategies to drive appropriate imaging relevant to the Austrian context.
Publication: Decision Support Document No. 80: https://eprints.aihta.at/1043
Contact: Agnes Kisser

Newsletter
Announcement
Procedural guidance for the systematic evaluation of biomarker tests
The usefulness of a biomarker test requires the demonstration of its diagnostic accuracy together with the demonstration of its clinical utility. The methodology for evidence-based evaluation of biomarkers is not yet fully established. In this project we reviewed current methodological approaches and synthesised them into a procedural guidance.
Publication: Decision Support Document No. 77: https://eprints.aihta.at/1041
Contact: Agnes Kisser

Announcement
Re-orientation of the Austrian parent-child preventive care programme Part X: further development of the mother-child-pass. Scientific support of the appraisal process
For the planned appraisal process in the context of the further development of the mother-child-pass, the LBI-HTA worked on the following preparatory reports on behalf of the Austrian Ministry of Health: In Part Xa of the project “Re-orientation of the Austrian parent-child preventive care programme”, we analysed and compared national and international practice examples for the appraisal and contextualization of evidence. The identified similarities served as the basis for the development of an appraisal process for the further development of the mother-child-pass. The main features of this process were summarised in Part Xb. Additionally, we updated the guideline synthesis (Part IX) with screening recommendations from recent evidence-based guidelines for pregnancy. This update can be used as evidence basis for the appraisal process.
Publications:
Decision Support Document No. 78a and 78b: https://eprints.aihta.at/1039
LBI-HTA Project report No. 62 - Update 2014: https://eprints.aihta.at/996
Contact: Inanna Reinsperger

Newsletter
Event archive
Event
PriMHE (Programme in the Methods of Health Economics) - Series of lectures
What is a life year worth? Defining the boundaries of public willingness to pay for better health.
Jugendstilhoersaal, BT 88, Level 2
Spitalgasse 23, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Announcement
Horizon Scanning in Onkology - Reports
We are pleased to introduce two new HSO reports.
DSD HSO No. 47
Ibrutinib (Imbruvica®) for relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
DSD HSO No. 48
Bevacizumab (Avastin®) for platinum-resistant recurrent, epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer
Announcement
Assessment – APPRAISAL – Decision: (Good) Practice examples and recommendations
Health Technology Assessment HTA has in many countries become an integral part of health policy decision-making. After the assessment (the synthesis of available research evidence) some countries undertake an appraisal of the evidence’s impact and applicability for a specific context. Appraisal committees, sometimes called policy committees, work where research and policy meet. Appraisal committees facilitate the life of decision makers in health policy by translating research results into political recommendations. This working paper presents 11 appraisal committees from 7 countries and condenses their experience into recommendations. An appraisal committee set up in line with these examples of good-practice may serve as an important building block for transparent and evidence-based decision making in health policy.
Publication: Decision Support Document Nr. 72: https://eprints.aihta.at/1036
Contact: Claudia Wild