Annex C
DH RESEARCH—HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
(HTA) FINDINGS AND APPLICATIONS
REVIEW OF
STENTS AND
NICE GUIDANCE
Some HTA outputs feed directly into the development
of NICE guidance (see paragraph 2.6.1). For example, a systematic
review of stents found that:
"in sub-acute heart disease (especially
stable angina and unstable angina) there is evidence for the effectiveness
of elective stents in reducing the need for repeat coronary angioplasty".
This fed directly in to NICE guidance which
states:
"stents should be used routinely where percutaneous
coronary intervention is the clinically appropriate procedure
for patients with either stable or unstable angina or with acute
myocardial infarction".
VIRTUAL OUTREACH
SERVICES AND
THEIR INCORPORATION
WITHIN HEALTHCARE
SYSTEMS
Other examples of HTA assessing new technologies
include an evaluation of virtual outreach or joint teleconferenced
medical consultations. This trial found that:
— virtual outreach consultations resulted
in significantly higher levels of patient satisfaction than standard
outpatient appointments and led to substantial reductions in numbers
of tests and investigations. However, they were associated with
increased rates of follow-up. Virtual outreach was not cost neutral
although changes in costs and technological advances may improve
the relative position of virtual consultations in future.
These findings have important implications for
the design and implementation of virtual outreach services within
healthcare systems and suggest that appropriate patient selection,
significant service reorganisation, and provision of logistical
support for arranging and conducting consultations will be required
if such services are to operate efficiently.
USE AND
BENEFITS OF
NEW GLUCOSE
MONITORING DEVICES
The HTA programme continues to commission research
to evaluate new technologies in healthcare. For example, a randomised
trial to compare minimally invasive glucose monitoring devices
in the management of insulin treated diabetics is due to report
in 2008. The trial will consider reliability and patient acceptability
of the new technologies and will include modelling of long-term
health benefits and costs and cost effectiveness of the technologies
involved.
| 
