ICER Announces Initiative to Develop Health Equity-Targeted HTA Practices

Health technology assessment (HTA) agencies are primarily focused on efficacy and safety of a therapeutic on a general population. A new initiative by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) seeks to add another criteria to the mix: health equity. The non-profit recently received funding from The Commonwealth Fund to investigate changes to HTA processes that could advance health equity efforts.

According to Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, President of ICER, “Our goal is to identify best practices where possible to guide HTA in the US and create the conditions for accelerating the use of HTA to support society’s goal of improving health equity. HTA often serves as a filter through which evidence is judged and given context for policymakers making decisions about pricing, access, and payment in the health care system.  How should we handle questions about which topics to review, how to reach diverse voices in the patient community, how to interpret data that often lacks adequate representation of people of color and other minority groups, and how to help highlight opportunities to address elements that contribute to the disparities in access and outcomes that persist in our health care system – and our society – today?  That’s what this project is about.”

To read more, click here.

(Source: ICER, July 11th, 2022)