Health Technology Assessment Unit (HTA)
Objectives
The HTA Unit’s main objective is to establish a high quality scientific research programme, but it also consults, offers support and advice concerning economic evaluations to colleagues within the VUmc, and educates, training students in economic evaluation.
- to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of new and existing preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic interventions;
- to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the implementation of clinical guidelines; and
- to develop specific research methodology and to improve existing research methodology in the field of economic evaluations, systematic reviews, and clinical guidelines development.
Collaborations
True to its multidisciplinary nature, HTA research is conducted in close collaboration with other organisations. The HTA Unit collaborates with various departments within the VUmc: general practice, social medicine, occupational medicine, psychiatry, nutrition and gynaecology. HTA research within the programme Lifestyle, Overweight and Diabetes is conducted in cooperation with the VU Department of Health Sciences. There is also collaboration with outside institutes and departments: the Department of General Practice of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam (prof.dr. B. Koes, dr. A. Verhagen), the Centre for Quality of Care Research of the Radboud University, Nijmegen (dr. R. Hermens), and the Department of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Centre in Leiden (dr. W. Peul), and the Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University (drs. M. Kroeze).
There is also international collaboration with the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto, Canada (Professor C. Bombardier, MD, PhD, A. Furlan, MD, PhD, V. Pennick, MPH) and the Centre of Research Expertise in Improved Disability Outcomes (CREIDO) Toronto Western Hospital in Toronto, Canada (professor D. Cassidy, DC, PhD, J. Hayden, DC, PhD, P. Cote, DC, PhD, G. Vandervelde, DC,), the Finnish Institute for Health Technology Assessment in Helsinki (A. Malmivaara, MD, PhD), the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (D. Urquhart, PT, PhD), and the Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Bloomington, USA (G. Bronfort, DC, PhD, R. Evans, DC, PhD, M. Maier, DC, MPH).
Results
Good examples of recent results from EMGO’s HTA Unit are the PhD theses of Ingeborg Korthals–de Bos (May 2002), entitled Economic Evaluations in Musculoskeletal Disorders, Judith Bosmans (February 2006), entitled Cost-effectiveness of treatment for depression in primary care, Nicole van der Roer (November 2006), entitled Economic evaluations in low back pain: getting the value back, and Sidney Rubinstein (June 2008), entitled Adverse events following chiropractic care for subjects with neck pain.
Contact information
Prof. dr. Maurits van Tulder; e-mail: maurits.van.tulder@falw.vu.nl