HTA Strategy for Lithuania

Research areas: High tech medicine, European collaboration

Duration: February 2015 - July 2015
Publication: HTA Decision Support Document No. 90a: https://eprints.aihta.at/1064/

Language: English

Background:

Health policy goals in Lithuania until 2020 include increasing transparency, cost-effectiveness and rational use of resources as well as ensuring evidence-based care and access to safe and quality services. Despite repeated initiatives, a systematic application of HTA is so far not in place in Lithuania. Individual HTA activities have begun to take roots, most prominently in the field of medical devices at the Medical Technology Division of the State Health Care Accreditation Agency (VASPVT).

Aims:

The lack of an overarching HTA framework, limited professional resources for and system experience with HTA in Lithuania have led the European Union and the Lithuanian Department of Health to initiate a joint project focused on wider capacity building for HTA in Lithuania. In this context LBI-HTA is tasked with the development of a National Lithuanian HTA Strategy with a special focus on medical devices. In tandem LBI-HTA will provide capacity building support for VASPVT with introductory HTA staff training (covering systematic literature review, critical appraisal, status of European HTA cooperation in EUnetHTA) and via hands-on guidance of VASPVT through the production of actual HTAs for medical devices.

Results:

In the envisoned HTA strategy, recommendations for integrating HTA into Lithuanian decision making on medical devices will be presented. Suggestions for a procedure on how to implement a feasible HTA process (from identification of topics to implementation of results) within the Lithuanian health care system structures will be provided. Required capacity building and potential financial sources for establishing HTA will be addressed.

In cooperation with and under the methodological supervision of LBI-HTA, VASPVT will produce four specific HTAs for medical devices.