gms | German Medical Science

Background/research question: There is a wide agreement on the value of patient engagement complementing health technology assessments (HTA). Patients are involved in HTA processes in order to gain their input on experiences with the disease, health related quality of life, different therapies and patient relevant outcomes. The European Network for HTA (EUnetHTA) Joint Action 3 (2016-2020), funded by the European Commission, aims to improve and standardise patient involvement methods in jointly produced HTAs.

Methods: The EUnetHTA Task Group on Patient & Consumer / Health Care Provider Involvement suggested different methods for patient involvement that were tested in HTAs on non-pharmaceutical technologies: group conversation, one-on-one conversation, scoping (e-)meeting with patients/patient representatives, patient input template (open questions sent to relevant patient organisations, or published on EUnetHTA website) and other approaches. Those methods were applied based on the scope of the HTA, timelines and burden of disease for patients.

Results: Patients were involved in 12 of 22 HTAs on non-pharmaceutical technologies. Methods used were: patient input template (n=5), one-on-one conversation (n=4), group conversation (n=2), scoping (e-)meeting with patients/patient representatives (n=1), and other approach (i.e. written feedback on scope or report n= 4). In some HTAs more than one method was used, but not all HTAs included patients due to unsuccessful identification of patients, no suitable representation of specific patient group or tight timelines. Patient involvement showed to be most useful in the scoping phase.

Conclusion: Patient involvement methods need to be further tested and evaluated in order to formulate a deeper understanding about the impact of patient involvement on HTA. A guidance should be developed on how to implement and make patient input visible in HTAs. Feedback from patients that were actively involved in the HTAs should be collected to further improve the involvement methods that should serve as basis for future recommendations post 2020.

Competing interests: This abstract is part of EUnetHTA JA3, which received funding from the European Union’s Health Programme (2014-2020). No funding will be received by the speaker.

The content of this abstract represents the views of the author(s) only and is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.