The Role of Health Technology Assessment in Evidence-Based Decision making and Health Policy: A review study

The purpose of this study was to show the major challenges and opportunities related to Health Technology Assessment (HTA) that most countries have faced with when launching and developing an HTA system for making appropriate decisions in policy making. Review of studies: This was a review study in the field of HTA and health policy. All literature potentially relevant to this issue had been studied via library and the Internet search of data bases related to HTA to select and present materials extracted. The search was focused on English papers published in 1980-2014. The impact of HTA depends in large part on the quality and transparency of the assessment and decision-making processes، as well as institutional، organizational، political and cultural dynamics broader than the scopes of national health care systems. As many countries increasingly gear their health systems towards policies emphasizing measurement، accountability، transparency and evidence-based practices، the challenges of HTA should be addressed in order to achieve concurrent health care system goals، and support those services offering large value of money and impact on health care outcomes. The role of HTA offering extensive opportunities to support governments and other stakeholders in decision-making has grown substantially. Countries should، therefore، seek to capitalize on the strengths of established HTA systems، while pioneering solutions to address major challenges and strengthening the HTA enterprise.