Doing mini-health technology assessments in hospitals: a new concept of decision support in health care?
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this project was to evaluate local decision support tools used in the Danish hospital sector from a theoretical and an empirical point of view.


METHODS
The use of local decision support was evaluated through questionnaires sent to all county health directors, all hospital managers, and all heads of clinical departments in cardiology, orthopedic surgery, and intensive care. In addition, respondents were asked to submit whatever decision support tools they were using (including mini-HTAs, other forms or checklists, and special procedures for decision making concerning new health technologies). A theoretical analysis of the decision support tools (decision theory) was performed as well as a comparison with the business case method used in private companies. Finally, the Danish mini-HTA was compared with foreign production and use of HTA and HTA-like assessments as local decision support.


RESULTS
The response rate was high (87 percent, 94 percent, 85 percent, respectively). We collected sixty different forms (of which forty-nine were mini-HTAs) and twenty variants of written procedures. We found theoretical and empirical evidence that local involvement in the process of making the HTA could be important for the use of the results from the HTA and for the process of implementing the new technology.


CONCLUSIONS
Doing mini-HTA in hospitals seems to balance the need for quality and depth with the limited time and resources for assessment.
Ehlers
Lars
L
Department of Health, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. le@ag.aaa.dk
Vestergaard
Malene
M
Kidholm
Kristian
K
Bonnevie
Birgitte
B
Pedersen
Poul Holt
PH
Jørgensen
Torben
T
Jensen
Malene Fabricius
MF
Kristensen
Finn Børlum
FB
Kjølby
Mette
M
D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D003718:Denmark; D006739:Hospital Administration; D006801:Humans; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000379:methods*