What are health technology assessments?
A health technology assessment (HTA), known in French as Évaluation des technologies et des modes d’intervention en santé et en services sociaux (ÉTMIS SS), involves a review of the best available and most relevant evidence, combined with contextual and experiential data, to guide decision-making in the selection of a technology (drugs, devices, instruments, equipment), an intervention (screening, diagnosis, medical, surgical or psychosocial intervention, rehabilitation) or an intervention method (how the intervention was performed).
This thorough assessment is aimed at minimizing uncertainty around the relevance of technologies or intervention methods and providing managers and interest groups with recommendations to support their decisions. Another goal of the HTA is to inform decision-makers about the best options to improve the quality of care and services for users, while considering efficacy, safety, costs, context, and target users.
In Québec, university-affiliated institutions are required to assess the health technologies and interventions used in their areas of expertise. Having a HTA unit is therefore integral to meeting this obligation and being recognized as a university institute.
HTA at our CIUSSS
Our mission is to support and inform the network’s professionals (managers, clinicians, etc.) in their decision-making when it comes to policies or health and social services, as well as the procurement, organization, management, introduction, maintenance or withdrawal of health technologies or intervention methods.
Our goal is to make recommendations and provide avenues for improvement and evidence-based information on:
- Safety
- Practical and theoretical efficacy
- Costs and economic implications
- Ethical, social, cultural, legal, organizational and environmental considerations