title: HTA responses and the classic HTA report.
abstract: Reports produced in response to the need for health technology assessment (HTA) vary greatly in the methods they use, depending on the decision-maker's needs, the technology's characteristics and the resources available. HTA reports vary from the brief, such as 'vignettes' produced when a new technology emerges, to the exhaustive, such as 'Cochrane reviews' synthesising a mature evidence base. They may address a wide range of different questions. 'Classic HTAs', typically those reports prepared to support NICE appraisal decisions, seek to use scientifically rigorous methods to address a focused policy question. These are based on systematic reviews of the effectiveness evidence but this is often fed into economic models, in order to generate estimates of cost-effectiveness. Future developments in HTA responses will reflect both the embedding of systematic methods and a growing responsiveness to customer needs.
authors.affiliation: Wessex Institute for Health Research and Development, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 7PX. rm2@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ruairidh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Milne
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clegg
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D006291:Health Policy; D011634:Public Health; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D013222:State Medicine; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000379:methods; D006113:United Kingdom