How can health technology assessment be improved to optimise access to medicines? Results from a Delphi study in Europe

Anna-Maria Fontrier (), Bregtje Kamphuis and Panos Kanavos
Additional contact information
Anna-Maria Fontrier: London School of Economics and Political Science
Bregtje Kamphuis: London School of Economics and Political Science
Panos Kanavos: London School of Economics and Political Science

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2024, vol. 25, issue 6, No 3, 935-950

Abstract: Abstract Introduction Access to medicines is a shared goal across healthcare stakeholders. Since health technology assessment (HTA) informs funding decisions, it shapes access to medicines. Despite its wide implementation, significant access variations due to HTA are observed across Europe. This paper elicited the opinions of European stakeholders on how HTA can be improved to facilitate access. Methods A scoping review identified HTA features that influence access to medicines within markets and areas for improvement, while three access dimensions were identified (availability, affordability, timeliness). Using the Delphi method, we elicited the opinions of European stakeholders to validate the literature findings. Results Nineteen participants from 14 countries participated in the Delphi panel. Thirteen HTA features that could be improved to optimise access to medicines in Europe were identified. Of these, 11 recorded a positive impact on at least one of the three access dimensions. HTA features had mostly a positive impact on timeliness and a less clear impact on affordability. ‘Early scientific advice’ and ‘clarity in evidentiary requirements’ showed a positive impact on all access dimensions. 'Established ways to deal with uncertainty during HTA’ could improve medicines’ availability and timeliness, while more ‘reliance on real-world evidence’ could expedite time to market access. Conclusions Our results reiterate that increased transparency during HTA and the decision-making processes is essential; the use of and reliance on new evidence generation such as real-world evidence can optimise the availability of medicines; and better collaborations between regulatory institutions within and between countries are paramount for better access to medicines.

Keywords: Health technology assessment; HTA; Europe; Medicines; Access; Delphi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I10 I11 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10198-023-01637-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:25:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1007_s10198-023-01637-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... cs/journal/10198/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10198-023-01637-z

Access Statistics for this article

The European Journal of Health Economics is currently edited by J.-M.G.v.d. Schulenburg

More articles in The European Journal of Health Economics from Springer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().