HEALTH TECHNOLOGYBY-PRAMOD KUMAR

HEALTH: -

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

TECHNOLOGY:The branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY:It is the prevention and rehabilitation, vaccines, pharmaceuticals and devices, medical and surgical procedures, and the systems within which health is protected and maintained.  

Continue… Health technologies are

used at every level of the health care system from the simplest to the most advanced.

They form the backbone of the services medicine can offer in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and disease.

PURPOSE: Develop and maintain

basic operational frameworks for safe and reliable health services and technologies.

Help Member States complete the basic operational frameworks through project proposals prepared by Member States.

Continue…Develop norms and standards, guidelines, training materials, reference materials and estimation of burden of disease.

Focus on diseases of the poor.

AREAS OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY:Health technologies are everywhere.

Blood transfusion safetyBlood products and related biological

Diagnostic imagingDistrict hospital surgeryLaboratory servicesMedical devices and equipment

Transplantation services

ESSENTIALITY:•Meet basic needs for health services•Have been proven to be cost-efficient•Are evidence-based•Health technologies are evidence-based when they meet well-defined•Specifications and have been validated through controlled•Clinical studies or rest on a widely accepted consensus by experts.

HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES ARE

ESSENTIAL

WHEN THEY:

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT (HTA)Health technology assessment is the systematic evaluation of properties, effects or other impacts of health technology.

CONTINUE… The main purpose of HTA is to

inform policymaking for technology in health care, where policymaking is used in the broad sense to include decisions made at, e.g., the individual or patient level, the level of the health care provider or institution, or at the regional, national and international levels.

BASIC HTA ORIENTATIONS1. Technology-oriented assessments: - These are intended to determine the

characteristics or impacts of particular technologies.

For example, a government agency may want to determine the clinical, economic, social, professional, or industrial impacts of population-based cancer screening, cochlear implants, or other particular interventions.

CONTINUE…2. Problem-oriented assessments:- It focuses on solutions or strategies for

managing a particular problem for which alternative or complementary technologies might be used.

For example, clinicians and providers concerned with the problem of diagnosis of dementia may call for the development of clinical practice guidelines involving some combination or sequence of clinical history, neurological examination, and diagnostic imaging using various modalities.

CONTINUE…3. Project-oriented assessments:- It focus on a local placement or use of a

technology in a particular institution, program, or other designated project.

For example, this may arise when a hospital must decide whether or not to purchase a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit, considering the facilities, personnel, and other resources needed to install and operate an MRI unit; the hospital's financial status; local market potential for MRI services; competitive factors; etc.

STEPS OF HTA:-Identify

assessment topics

Specify the assessment

problem

Determine locus of

assessment

Retrieve evidence

Collect new primary data

(as appropriate)

Appraise/interpret evidence

Integrate/synthesize evidence

PURPOSES OF HTA:- Regulatory agencies such as the

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about whether to permit the commercial use (e.g. marketing) of a drug, device or other technology

Health care payers, providers, and employers about whether technologies should be included in health benefits plans or disease management programs, addressing coverage (whether or not to pay) and reimbursement (how much to pay)

CONTINUE… Clinicians and patients

about the appropriate use of health care interventions for a particular patient’s clinical needs and circumstances

Health professional associations about the role of a technology in clinical protocols or practice guidelines

CONTINUE… Hospitals, health care networks,

group purchasing organizations, and other health care organizations about decisions regarding technology acquisition and management

Standards-setting organizations for health technology and health care delivery regarding the manufacture, use, quality of care, and other aspects of health care technologies

CONTINUE…Government health

department officials about undertaking public health programs (e.g., vaccination, screening, and environmental protection programs.

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (HTAP)HTA is an innovative

program that determines if health services used by state government are safe and effective.

CONTINUE…The primary goals are to make: Health care safer by

relying on scientific evidence and a committee of practicing clinicians

Coverage decisions of state agencies more consistent

CONTINUE…State purchased health

care more cost effective Coverage decision

process more open and inclusive by sharing information, holding public meetings, and publishing decision criteria and outcomes

EXPERTISE FOR CONDUCTING HTA:-Depending upon the topic and scope of assessment, these may include a selection of the following: Physicians, nurses,

dentists, and other clinicians

Managers of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other health care institutions

CONTINUE… Radiology technicians,

laboratory technicians and other allied health professionals

Biomedical and clinical engineers

Pharmacologists

Patients and patient affairs representatives

CONTINUE…Epidemiologists

Biostatisticians

Economists

Lawyers

Social scientists

CONTINUE…Ethicists

Decision scientists

Computer scientists/programmers

Librarians/information specialists

HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES AND DECISION MAKING:

Health technology has the tremendous potential to change our understanding of disease, transform the delivery of health-care services, and improve health outcomes. But using such technology comes at a price.

CONTINUE… Decisions about whether to

purchase and use new technology should be based on high-quality evidence on its impact on health care and health outcomes.

Health Technologies and Decision Making analyses the barriers to, and facilitators of, evidence-based decision making in health-care systems

CONTINUE…Analysis focused on

the production of evidence, primarily in the form of health technology assessment (HTA), and the way that such evidence is subsequently used in decision making.

RESEARCH ARTICLE:-A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON , “Strategy of health information seeking among physicians, medical residents and students after introducing digital library and information technology in teaching hospitals of Iran,”

AMONG, 315 physicians, assistants and medical students in affiliated hospitals of Semnan University of medical sciences in 2013.

RESULT:- 52.9% of physicians and 79.5% of

medical residents and students always used patient data.

81.3% of physicians and 67.1% of medical residents and students reported using their own experiences.

26.5% of physicians and 16.9% of medical residents and students always used databases such as PubMed and MEDLINE for patient care.