title: The health systems' priority setting criteria for selecting health technologies: A systematic review of the current evidence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the recent years, using health technologies to diagnose and treat diseases has had a considerable and accelerated growth. The proper use of these technologies may considerably help in the diagnosis and treatment of different diseases. On the other hand, unlimited and unrestricted entry of these technologies may result in induced demand by service providers. The aim of this study was to determine the appropriate criteria used in health technologies priority-setting models in the world.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using MESH and free text, we sought and retrieved the relevant articles from the most appropriate medical databases (the Cochrane Library, PubMed and Scopus) through three separate search strategies up to March 2015. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) Studies with specific criteria; 2) Articles written in English; 3) Those articles conducted in compliance with priority setting of health technologies. Data were analyzed qualitatively using a thematic synthesis technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After screening the retrieved papers via PRISMA framework, from the 7,012 papers, 40 studies were included in the final phase. Criteria for selecting health technologies (in pre assessment and in the assessment phase) were categorized into six main themes: 1) Health outcomes; 2) Disease and target population; 3) Technology alternatives; 4) Economic aspects; 5) Evidence; 6) and other factors. "Health effects/benefits" had the maximum frequency in health outcomes (8 studies); "disease severity" had the maximum frequency in disease and target population (12 studies); "the number of alternatives" had the maximum frequency in alternatives (2 studies); "cost-effectiveness" had the maximum frequency in economic aspects (15 studies); "quality of evidence" had the maximum frequency in evidence (4 studies); and "issues concerning the health system" had the maximum frequency in other factors (10 studies).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results revealed an increase in the number of studies on health technologies priority setting around the world, and emphasized the necessity of application of a multi- criteria approach for appropriate decision making about healthcare technologies in the health systems.
authors.affiliation: PhD Candidate, Department of Health Services Management, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. mobinreza@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mobinizadeh
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Medical Information Science, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. raeissi2009@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Pouran
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raeissi
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Health Services Management, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. nasiripour@srbiau.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Amir Ashkan
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nasiripour
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, National Institute for Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. arolyaee@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olyaeemanesh
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Health Services Management, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. sjtabibi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Seyed Jamaleddin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tabibi
keywords: Health Systems; Health Technology; Health Technology Assessment; Priority Setting; Priority Setting Criteria