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About Health Technology
Assessment & Management
Health technology assessment
Health technology assessment (HTA)
refers to the systematic evaluation of properties, effects, and/or
impacts of health technology. It 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.
Considering the definition of health
technology, as the application of organized knowledge and skills
in the form of medicines, medical devices, vaccines, procedures
and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve
quality of life.
Management and use
To ensure access to appropriate
medical devices, proper management and use of medical equipment
must be considered. This area is often referred to as clinical
engineering or health-care technology management. The management
process begins with understanding the needs of the country,
region, community, or facility and ends with decommissioning. In
between, the process consists of good procurement practices,
appropriate donation solicitation and provision, logistics of
delivery and installation, inventory management, maintenance, safe
use and training, and measurement of clinical effectiveness.
WHO recognizes the importance of
medical device management in contributing to the provision of
quality health care and thus, under the Global Initiative on
Health Technologies began developing tools and resources for
Member States in this critical area.
( Ref : WHO | WHO Technical
Specification for Medical Devices ).
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