Article type
Abstract
Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPG) and Health Technology Assessments (HTA) are important documents in healthcare that provide recommendations for optimizing patient care. There are many common elements in the development process of these documents, including evaluating clinical efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, and societal implications such as equity, feasibility, and individual values and preferences.
Objective: To outline the steps involved in utilizing and incorporating HTA within CPG.
Methods: The updated guideline for health economic evaluation in Brazil featured a chapter dedicated to offering guidance on the utilization and integration of HTA and CPG, primarily within the context of the Brazilian public health system. The recommendations were developed by a working group composed of methodologists, researchers, professors, and specialists in CPG development, evidence synthesis, and health economic evaluation.
Results: HTA and CPG have complementary roles in health decision-making, and their synergy can enhance the development of recommendations, involve different stakeholders, support the implementation of new guidelines, and promote continuous improvement in the health system. Collaborative efforts between developers of these documents can lead to more effective health practices, avoiding duplication of effort by incorporating similar methodology steps, such as evidence synthesis. Also, evidence generated by HTA can support the development of recommendations, ensuring that they are based on the best evidence and consider the wider implications for the health system.
Conclusions: HTA can provide valuable evidence to inform the development or updating of guidelines, while guidelines can benefit from evaluating new technologies based on opportunity cost. Because of increasing healthcare spending, it is essential to incorporate recommendations based on economic evaluation. This guideline creates unified national standards for health economic analysis that will guide recommendations for both CPG and HTA in the decision-making process in the Brazilian public health system.
Objective: To outline the steps involved in utilizing and incorporating HTA within CPG.
Methods: The updated guideline for health economic evaluation in Brazil featured a chapter dedicated to offering guidance on the utilization and integration of HTA and CPG, primarily within the context of the Brazilian public health system. The recommendations were developed by a working group composed of methodologists, researchers, professors, and specialists in CPG development, evidence synthesis, and health economic evaluation.
Results: HTA and CPG have complementary roles in health decision-making, and their synergy can enhance the development of recommendations, involve different stakeholders, support the implementation of new guidelines, and promote continuous improvement in the health system. Collaborative efforts between developers of these documents can lead to more effective health practices, avoiding duplication of effort by incorporating similar methodology steps, such as evidence synthesis. Also, evidence generated by HTA can support the development of recommendations, ensuring that they are based on the best evidence and consider the wider implications for the health system.
Conclusions: HTA can provide valuable evidence to inform the development or updating of guidelines, while guidelines can benefit from evaluating new technologies based on opportunity cost. Because of increasing healthcare spending, it is essential to incorporate recommendations based on economic evaluation. This guideline creates unified national standards for health economic analysis that will guide recommendations for both CPG and HTA in the decision-making process in the Brazilian public health system.