The EU Health Technology Assessment and the Open Method of Coordination: A Relation with Potential in the Context of Network Governance
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Objectives
- (a)
- The number of Member States and actors participating in the network; a high number of Member States from the total 27 being a prove of their interest and a recognition of the network added value;
- (b)
- The number of projects developed from the initial collaboration; the continuation of network collaboration showing the relevance given to it by the European Commission and Member States;
- (c)
- Benefits of network from the participants’ perspective: the prevalent benefits classified as “very useful”; the number of respondents that classified their benefits from the network to “very useful” can be seen as a success criteria.
2. Theoretical Considerations
2.1. Network Governance
2.2. Network Governance and the EU Policy-Making Process
- The traditional Community method;
- the way of EU regulation (for “micro” decisions on the implementation of the acquis communautaire);
- The distributive modality of the EU (distribution of resources by involving several types of actors);
- Policy coordination (for example using the open method of coordination);
- Intensive transgovernmentalism (what in other authors appears as intergovernmental cooperation—the cases of EMU, CFSP, the former JHA field [20].
- Regulatory policies
- Expenditure policies
- Macroeconomic policies
- Citizens’ policies and foreign policies
2.3. The Open Method of Coordination—A Novel Approach of Governance?
- Setting general guidelines for the Union, in conjunction with precise programs to achieve the objectives they have set in the short, medium and long term;
- Establishing, where appropriate, qualitative and quantitative indicators and targets to be achieved, related to the highest performance worldwide and customized to the needs of different Member States and sectors of activity, as a means of comparing best practices;
- Transformation of these indicators into national and regional policies with specific objectives, taking into account national and regional particularities;
- Regular monitoring, evaluation and careful review, organized as shared learning processes [28].
- A concrete way of developing modern governance using the principle of subsidiarity;
- An instrument to organize a learning process at European level in order to stimulate exchange and the emulation of best practices, and in order to help Member States improve their own national policies;
- A way of encouraging management by objectives by adapting European guidelines to national diversity;
- An inclusive method for deepening European construction;
- An instrument to be added to a more general set of instruments;
- An important tool to improve transparency and democratic participation”.
2.4. The Proliferation of the OMC in the Health Care and Its Importance for Achieving Network Goals
3. A Brief Introduction of the Health Technology Assessment in the EU
3.1. Origins
3.2. HTA Basic Considerations
- Evaluate the economic implications and analyse cost and cost-effectiveness
- Appraise social and ethical implications of the diffusion and use of health technologies as well as their organizational implications
- Identify best practices in health care”.
4. European Collaboration Regarding HTA and EUnetHTA—A Very Fertile Field for Using OMC
4.1. EU’s Health Policy Particularization and HTA Interaction: Developing a Network Approach
4.2. EUnetHTA Objectives
4.3. Results
- (1)
- Delivering tools and information to support HTA in Europe; and
- (2)
- Developing a well-functioning network of national HTA organizations that can share information and undertake joint work.
- (1)
- “Setting up a new agency;
- (2)
- Informing about new technologies;
- (3)
- Facilitating new evidence generation;
- (4)
- Performing and reporting actual cross-border assessments to support timely, relevant, high-quality Core HTA information that can be used for national/regional reporting;
- (5)
- Adapting information from one setting to another; and understanding better the relation between HTA and health policy”
4.4. Further Collaboration and Steps towards a Mandatory National Uptake of the Joint Clinical Assessments
5. Final Remarks
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Strategic Objectives | Specific Objectives |
---|---|
(1) Reduce overlap and duplication of effort and hence promote more effective use of resources; (2) Increase HTA input to decision-making in Member States and the EU and hence to increase the impact of HTA; (3) Strengthen the link between HTA and health care policy making in the EU and its Member States; (4) Support countries with limited experience with HTA. | (1) To establish the organizational and structural framework for the network with a supporting secretariat (2) To effectively disseminate and handle HTA results, information sharing and coordination of HTA activities through the development and implementation of elaborate communication strategies and description of clearinghouse functionality (3) To produce generic core models for HTAs on two essential categories of health technology questions: interventions and treatment, as well as core HTAs on selected topics for each category (4) To develop and implement generic tools for adapting assessments made for one country to new contexts (5) To develop and implement effective tools to transfer HTA results into applicable health policy advice in the Member States and EU—including systems for identification and prioritization of topics for HTAs and assessment of impact of HTA advice (6) To structure prioritization for HTA and provide health care decision makers with policy relevant information on new and emerging technologies (7) To provide tools to monitor the development of health technologies and to share data and results of this monitoring (8) To establish a support system for countries without institutionalized HTA activity |
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Matei, A.; Dumitru, A.-S.; Antonovici, C.-G. The EU Health Technology Assessment and the Open Method of Coordination: A Relation with Potential in the Context of Network Governance. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3582. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063582
Matei A, Dumitru A-S, Antonovici C-G. The EU Health Technology Assessment and the Open Method of Coordination: A Relation with Potential in the Context of Network Governance. Sustainability. 2021; 13(6):3582. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063582
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatei, Ani, Adrian-Stelian Dumitru, and Corina-Georgiana Antonovici. 2021. "The EU Health Technology Assessment and the Open Method of Coordination: A Relation with Potential in the Context of Network Governance" Sustainability 13, no. 6: 3582. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063582
APA StyleMatei, A., Dumitru, A. -S., & Antonovici, C. -G. (2021). The EU Health Technology Assessment and the Open Method of Coordination: A Relation with Potential in the Context of Network Governance. Sustainability, 13(6), 3582. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063582