Article type
Abstract
"Background: Health technology assessment (HTA) will become mandatory across the EU starting January 2025, aiming to evaluate the clinical, economic, ethical, and societal implications of healthcare interventions. However, controversies exist regarding the feasibility and capacity for implementation, particularly in less developed member states. Assessing the current knowledge and skills for HTA is crucial to identify gaps and needs.
Objective: This study investigated the levels of knowledge and skills required for HTA among clinicians at university hospitals in Croatia, in light of the upcoming EU regulation.
Methods: The questionnaire that was distributed to medical and dental medical doctors who work in the three largest university hospitals in Croatia (UHC Zagreb, UHC Sestre Milosrdnice, and UHC Split) included questions about basic demographic data, previous scientific and regulatory experience, and HTA-related experience. The main part of the survey focused on questions for self-assessment of the following skills: clinical effectiveness and safety, searching for the studies, critical appraisal skills, summarizing study characteristics and preparing for synthesis, qualitative evidence synthesis, grading the certainty of the evidence, understanding key concepts in data synthesis and analysis, ethics, health economics, and public and patient involvement. The final part of the survey focused on the subjective needs of each respondent toward future education in this field.
Results: So far, the survey was completed by 322 clinicians working at university hospitals in Split and Zagreb. The majority of the respondents were female (63.24%) aged 31-40 years (33.85%). 87.27% of respondents reported that they were never involved in an HTA process, while 77% of them never used the results of an HTA report. When analyzing the skills related to the HTA process, all categories had median scores of either 2 or 3 out of a maximum 5.
Conclusions: The level of HTA knowledge and skills among Croatian clinicians is currently inadequate to meet upcoming EU regulatory standards. Significant investments into HTA infrastructure, education, and practical training are therefore urgently needed. However, using targeted education based on the results of this study could aid in maintaining the target goals laid out in the EU regulation regarding the HTA."
Objective: This study investigated the levels of knowledge and skills required for HTA among clinicians at university hospitals in Croatia, in light of the upcoming EU regulation.
Methods: The questionnaire that was distributed to medical and dental medical doctors who work in the three largest university hospitals in Croatia (UHC Zagreb, UHC Sestre Milosrdnice, and UHC Split) included questions about basic demographic data, previous scientific and regulatory experience, and HTA-related experience. The main part of the survey focused on questions for self-assessment of the following skills: clinical effectiveness and safety, searching for the studies, critical appraisal skills, summarizing study characteristics and preparing for synthesis, qualitative evidence synthesis, grading the certainty of the evidence, understanding key concepts in data synthesis and analysis, ethics, health economics, and public and patient involvement. The final part of the survey focused on the subjective needs of each respondent toward future education in this field.
Results: So far, the survey was completed by 322 clinicians working at university hospitals in Split and Zagreb. The majority of the respondents were female (63.24%) aged 31-40 years (33.85%). 87.27% of respondents reported that they were never involved in an HTA process, while 77% of them never used the results of an HTA report. When analyzing the skills related to the HTA process, all categories had median scores of either 2 or 3 out of a maximum 5.
Conclusions: The level of HTA knowledge and skills among Croatian clinicians is currently inadequate to meet upcoming EU regulatory standards. Significant investments into HTA infrastructure, education, and practical training are therefore urgently needed. However, using targeted education based on the results of this study could aid in maintaining the target goals laid out in the EU regulation regarding the HTA."