A Scoping Review of Different Methods of Assessing the Impact of New Medical Technologies at Early Stages of Development

Zahra Goudarzi; Shekoufeh Nikfar; Abbas Kebriaeezadeh; Reza Yousefi Zenouz; Akbar Abdollahi Asl; Nader Tavakoli

doi:10.47176/mjiri.35.141

A Scoping Review of Different Methods of Assessing the Impact of New Medical Technologies at Early Stages of Development

Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2021 Oct 26:35:141. doi: 10.47176/mjiri.35.141. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Zahra Goudarzi^{1

2}, Shekoufeh Nikfar¹, Abbas Kebriaeezadeh³, Reza Yousefi Zenouz⁴, Akbar Abdollahi Asl³, Nader Tavakoli⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Health Human Resources Research Centre, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
³ Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Management, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Department of Operations and Information Technology Management, Faculty of Management, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Trauma and Injury Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Investing in the R & D sector of new medical technologies is associated with the risk of being rejected by paying organizations because of the lack of value-for-money. The purpose of this study is to investigate the different methods of evaluating the impacts of emerging medical technologies. Methods: Using scoping review method, we analyzed studies that investigated methods for assessing the impacts of emerging medical technologies on development. To find these studies, the Cochran Library, ISI Web of Knowledge, Embase, Ebsco and Pubmed databases from 2000 to 2018 were searched. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the STROBE Checklist. Two reviewers independently selected the qualified studies. Charting and collating the data were used based on the method proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. Results: Overall, 38 studies met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen methods were identified and put in five distinct categories: forecasting, Pro-HTA, Early-HTA, priority setting, and HHS were found to measure the impact of emerging technologies. The quality of these studies was acceptable. Few studies were conducted on emerging pharmaceutical technologies, and they were mostly on emerging medical devices. The Early HTA methods were often used to measure the effects of pharmaceutical technologies and medical devices technologies. The Pro-HTA method used dynamic modeling to examine the impact of medical technologies on a broad range of dimensions, while the HTA and Early-HTA methods used cost-effectiveness techniques throughout the development process. The HHS method used a multivariate decision-making technique. Conclusion: Different methods were used to investigate the impacts of emerging medical technologies. Chronologically Pro-HTA methods are new ways for investigating emerging medical technologies beyond clinical and economic impacts. Assessing the feasibility of implementing Pro-HTA in real environments deserves further research.

Keywords: Early Stages of Technology Development; Emerging Pharmaceuticals; Health Technology Assessment; New Medical Technologies.

Publication types

Review