title: Health technology assessment and gastroenterology.
abstract: Too much clinical practice is based on unproved opinion. Health technology assessment (HTA) encourages critical review of the literature in a particular area, from which an objective assessment can be made so that clinical practice may be more scientifically based. Only a small number of centers undertake this type of work, usually at a national level. We have been able to set up a more local HTA system (the Wessex Development and Evaluation Committee) with links to clinicians and both providers and purchasers of health care within a region of 3 million people. All aspects of medicine may be reviewed and discussed by the committee; 3 examples from within the field of gastroenterology are summarized herein. Active participation of a university-based institute to provide the reviews is essential. A local HTA facility confers a number of advantages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Colin-Jones
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000628:therapy*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004739:England; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000628:therapy*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008096:Lithotripsy; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration
chemical_list: D007372:Interferons