Health Technology Assessment in the Canadian Health Policy Arena

Abstract

This article uses a sociopolitical perspective to analyse the results of a case study of six Canadian Health Technology Assessment (HTA) agencies and their stakeholders: health care administrators, provider associations, patient associations and the biomedical industry. A total of 40 HTA agency representatives and 46 stakeholders were interviewed.A self-administered survey was also filled out by a larger number of respondents belonging to the four groups ( n = 405). Our study indicates that the concept of HTA has gained acceptance and that several groups want their concerns and priorities to be included in the agencies' agendas. Nevertheless, stakeholders question the political autonomy of HTA agencies and their ability to bring about concrete change.This article proposes strategies that may help improve relationships and exchanges between evaluators and their stakeholders. Evaluators must not be afraid to ask for more accountability in the way health technology policies are drafted.