title: Hospital managers' need for information in decision-making--An interview study in nine European countries.
abstract: Assessments of new health technologies in Europe are often made at the hospital level. However, the guidelines for health technology assessment (HTA), e.g. the EUnetHTA Core Model, are produced by national HTA organizations and focus on decision-making at the national level. This paper describes the results of an interview study with European hospital managers about their need for information when deciding about investments in new treatments. The study is part of the AdHopHTA project. Face-to-face, structured interviews were conducted with 53 hospital managers from nine European countries. The hospital managers identified the clinical, economic, safety and organizational aspects of new treatments as being the most relevant for decision-making. With regard to economic aspects, the hospital managers typically had a narrower focus on budget impact and reimbursement. In addition to the information included in traditional HTAs, hospital managers sometimes needed information on the political and strategic aspects of new treatments, in particular the relationship between the treatment and the strategic goals of the hospital. If further studies are able to verify our results, guidelines for hospital-based HTA should be altered to reflect the information needs of hospital managers when deciding about investments in new treatments.
authors.affiliation: Odense University Hospital, Department for Quality, Research and Health Technology Assessment, Sdr. Boulevard 29, 5000 Odense C, Denmark. Electronic address: kristian.kidholm@rsyd.dk.
authors.forename: Kristian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kidholm
authors.affiliation: Odense University Hospital, Department for Quality, Research and Health Technology Assessment, Sdr. Boulevard 29, 5000 Odense C, Denmark. Electronic address: anne.mette.oelholm@rsyd.dk.
authors.forename: Anne Mette
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ølholm
authors.affiliation: Odense University Hospital, Department for Quality, Research and Health Technology Assessment, Sdr. Boulevard 29, 5000 Odense C, Denmark. Electronic address: mette.birk-olsen@rsyd.dk.
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Birk-Olsen
authors.affiliation: Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Economics and Management and ALTEMS (Graduate School of Health Economics and Management), Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: acicchetti@rm.unicatt.it.
authors.forename: Americo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cicchetti
authors.affiliation: The National Knowledge Center for the Health Services, P.O. Box 7004 St Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: Brynjar.Fure@kunnskapssenteret.no.
authors.forename: Brynjar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fure
authors.affiliation: Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, P.O. Box 705, 00029 Hus, Finland. Electronic address: esa.halmesmaki@fimnet.fi.
authors.forename: Esa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Halmesmäki
authors.affiliation: Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, HTA Unit (ANHTA), Ulku Mahallesi Talatpasa Bulvari No. 5, Altindag, 06100 Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: drrabiakahveci@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Rabia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kahveci
authors.affiliation: Medical Direction, Tartu University Clinics, L.Puusepp st 1a, Tartu 50406, Estonia. Electronic address: Raul.Kiivet@ut.ee.
authors.forename: Raul-Allan
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kiivet
authors.affiliation: Medical Direction, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Bugnon 21, Lausanne VD CH-1011, Switzerland. Electronic address: Jean-Blaise.Wasserfallen@chuv.ch.
authors.forename: Jean-Blaise
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wasserfallen
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute für Health Technology Assessment, Garnisongasse 7/20, 1090 Wien/Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: claudia.wild@hta.lbg.ac.at.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.affiliation: Evaluation of Innovation and New Technologies, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, C/ Villarroel 170, 1.7., 08036 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: LSAMPIET@clinic.ub.es.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sampietro-Colom
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information; D020811:Biomedical Technology; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006740:Hospital Administrators; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Decision makers; Decision making; HTA; Hospital based HTA; Informational needs