Affiliations 

  • 1 Jordanian Royal Medical Services, Department for Health Technology Assessment, Amman, Jordan; High Health Council, Department for Health Economics and Financing, Amman, Jordan. Electronic address: [email protected]
  • 2 The University of Jordan, Faculty of Pharmacy, Amman, Jordan; Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, UCSI University, Malaysia
  • 3 Doctoral School of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Budapest, Hungary; Syreon Middle East, Alexandria, Egypt
  • 4 The University of Jordan, School of Medicine, Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Amman, Jordan
  • 5 Jordanian Royal Medical Services, Department for Health Technology Assessment, Amman, Jordan
  • 6 Theodore Bilharz Reseach Institute, Giza, Egypt
  • 7 High Health Council, Amman, Jordan; National HTA Committee, Amman, Jordan
  • 8 Semmelweis University, Center for Health Technology Assessment, Budapest, Hungary; Syreon Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary
Value Health Reg Issues, 2021 Sep;25:126-134.
PMID: 34015521 DOI: 10.1016/j.vhri.2021.01.003

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Health technology assessment (HTA) can increase the appropriateness and transparency of pricing and reimbursement decisions. Jordan is still in the early phase of its HTA implementation, although the country has very limited public resources for the coverage of healthcare technologies. The study objective was to explore and validate priorities in the HTA road map for Jordan and propose to facilitate the preferred HTA status.

METHODS: Health policy experts from the public and private sectors were asked to participate in a survey to explore the current and future status of HTA implementation in Jordan. Semistructured interviews with senior policy makers supported by literature review were conducted to validate survey results and make recommendations for specific actions.

RESULTS: Survey and interview results indicated a need for increased HTA training, including both short courses and academic programs and gradually increasing public funding for technology assessment and appraisal. Multiple HTA bodies with central coordination can be the most feasible format of HTA institutionalization. The weight of cost-effectiveness criterion based on local data with published reports and explicit decision thresholds should be increased in policy decisions of pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical technologies.

CONCLUSION: Currently, HTA has limited impact on health policy decisions in Jordan, and when it is used to support pharmaceutical reimbursement decisions, it is mainly based on results from other countries without considering transferability of international evidence. Policy makers should facilitate HTA institutionalization and use in policy decisions by increasing the weight of local evidence in HTA recommendations.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.