HOPE, the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation, released at the beginning of January 2012 a new guideline document for the use of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in cross-border regions. It is designed to empower all decision-makers to effectively develop and implement technologies in a cross-border setting. It also aims to support healthcare professionals who are working in hospitals in a cross-border context with no specific expertise in the field of HTA.
The new guideline document is based on the model of mini-HTA developed in Danish regions. It tries to incorporate all possible issues, opportunities, and elements to consider when taking decisions regarding health technologies in a cross-border environment. It has been developed based on the analysis of available literature, consultation with HTA experts and two implementation tests (Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Cyclotrons).
The first section of the document gives concise indications about the use and significance of the Guideline, the setting and situations where it can be used, and the ways in which users can gain the maximum benefit.
The second section consists of three lists of questions for users to answer when assessing a (new) technology in a border setting:
- The first set of questions is general and applicable to all hospitals in cross-border settings.
- The second set of questions only applies to hospitals which have no interaction with another hospital located on the other side of the border.
- The third set of questions only applies to two or more hospitals located on both sides of a border and which are willing to cooperate.
HOPE recommends further research in order to improve the usability of this guideline for a broad range of users and suggests to develop an electronic tool, which might be web-based, to make it simpler to apply the guideline.
This document results from the work of the project “Solutions for improving health care cooperation in border regions” (EUROREGIO II), carried out under the coordination of the Department for International Health of Maastricht University, and with funding from the European Commission.
