LAUSR

National healthcare systems worldwide are at a critical point due to the fiscal sustainability challenges faced. At the same time, healthcare systems are under pressure to meet the global demand for adaptation of medical innovations arriving into the market persistently. Hospitals often serve as the entry point for new technologies to the healthcare system. It is therefore extremely important that Health Technology Assessments (HTA) are available in timely order to accurately inform decision-makers on both short- and long-term effects of a health technology to avoid inappropriate investments. Hospital based HTA (HB-HTA) was developed to accommodate the need for evidence-based hospital-specific information in a timely manner. A substantial increase in the use of HB-HTA has been observed in the last years. However, only few reports are being published. A database for the structured collection of HB-HTA reports could help the dissemination and collaboration between hospitals. A survey answered by an international group of experts knowledgeable in HB-HTA from eighteen different countries has showed that there is an interest to realize the collection and dissemination of HB-HTA reports on an international scale. However, confidentiality and resources for a database are barriers for the dissemination of HB-HTA reports. The challenge will therefore be to overcome these barriers and design a database containing high quality, comparable and complete HB-HTA reports with proper data security, regular maintenance and user support. International collaboration in HB-HTA is the key to timely inform decision-makers without compromising the quality of the data or the methodology.