Stakeholder perception of health technology assessment in industrial setting

Introduction: Health technology assessment (HTA) is a multidisciplinary process to evaluate the social, economic, organizational and ethical issues of a health intervention or health technology. The main purpose of conducting an assessment is to inform a policy decision making. Objectives: 1. To emphasize on the need of HTA in India. 2. To analyze the application of HTA in various health sectors. Methodology: A qualitative study was done by conducting in-depth interviews with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire from various sectors such as academics, health technology industries and government sectors. Results: The study findings prove that the concept of Health Technology Assessment was familiar to all the participants but was not being implemented by all due to lack of expertise pertaining to the field and resources. Hence there is a need to increase the importance of the topic to help in better decision making when it comes to the health sector. Conclusion: India does not have a formal HTA program due to lack of expertise in the subject and resources. If policy makers are linked to HTA, then the population will be benefitted by this. Although, participating in a HTA consultation can be challenging as well as time consuming, it provides a great window of opportunity to create an impact on the delivery of healthcare in the country.