Wija Oortwijn1, Laura Sampietro-Colom2, Rebecca Trowman3. 1. Radboud University Medical Center, Department for Health Evidence, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 2. Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 3. Health Technology Assessment international, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Real-world evidence (RWE), derived from real-world data (RWD), is already used, to some extent, for health technology assessment (HTA) purposes. With the increased availability of RWD, there is potential for more widespread use but also challenges ensuring reliable RWE for HTA. Opportunities to overcome key challenges, identified at a scoping meeting, were discussed during the 2019 HTA international (HTAi) Global Policy Forum (GPF). METHODS: Reflection of discussions using Design Thinking (an interactive process aimed to solve complex problems) between seventy-three representatives from not-for-profit, for-profit organizations, and HTAi leadership. The discussions were informed by a background paper, and presentations from three invited keynote speakers and eleven GPF members. RESULTS: Several options were listed for addressing the identified key challenges: quality and acceptability, governance and accountability, transferability, and informing decision making. The GPF emphasized that the HTA community should first understand what questions could be answered with RWE. Additionally, more clarity on methods, standards, streamlining RWD collection, data sharing across jurisdictions, replication of RWD, and expert analysis were mentioned as important priorities. CONCLUSIONS: The HTA community is currently standing at a cross-road as it is not yet fully equipped to address these key challenges. It is, therefore, time for action. The community should start aligning on what is the best source of evidence according to purpose and how the data should be collected to create reliable evidence. It should also initiate the development of actions and guidance to properly develop and manage RWD/RWE to inform decision making across the technology lifecycle.
OBJECTIVES: Real-world evidence (RWE), derived from real-world data (RWD), is already used, to some extent, for health technology assessment (HTA) purposes. With the increased availability of RWD, there is potential for more widespread use but also challenges ensuring reliable RWE for HTA. Opportunities to overcome key challenges, identified at a scoping meeting, were discussed during the 2019 HTA international (HTAi) Global Policy Forum (GPF). METHODS: Reflection of discussions using Design Thinking (an interactive process aimed to solve complex problems) between seventy-three representatives from not-for-profit, for-profit organizations, and HTAi leadership. The discussions were informed by a background paper, and presentations from three invited keynote speakers and eleven GPF members. RESULTS: Several options were listed for addressing the identified key challenges: quality and acceptability, governance and accountability, transferability, and informing decision making. The GPF emphasized that the HTA community should first understand what questions could be answered with RWE. Additionally, more clarity on methods, standards, streamlining RWD collection, data sharing across jurisdictions, replication of RWD, and expert analysis were mentioned as important priorities. CONCLUSIONS: The HTA community is currently standing at a cross-road as it is not yet fully equipped to address these key challenges. It is, therefore, time for action. The community should start aligning on what is the best source of evidence according to purpose and how the data should be collected to create reliable evidence. It should also initiate the development of actions and guidance to properly develop and manage RWD/RWE to inform decision making across the technology lifecycle.
Keywords:
challenges; health technology assessment; opportunities; real-world data; real-world evidence
Authors: Ildikó Ádám; Marcelien Callenbach; Bertalan Németh; Rick A Vreman; Cecilia Tollin; Johan Pontén; Dalia Dawoud; Jamie Elvidge; Nick Crabb; Sahar Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn-Khosrovani; Anke Pisters-van Roy; Áron Vincziczki; Emad Almomani; Maja Vajagic; Z Gulsen Oner; Mirna Matni; Jurij Fürst; Rabia Kahveci; Wim G Goettsch; Zoltán Kaló Journal: Front Med (Lausanne) Date: 2022-09-23