ECONOMIC METHODS USED IN HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

Early decision-making process about the development of a new product is essential for any company in order to gain relevant financial returns and thus prosper. Therefore, managers need to have at their disposal appropriate assessment tools which assist them in their decisions about the development of the new product and guarantee that their product will generate a desirable profit. The purpose of this review focuses on the exploration of the methodology, commonly used in the economic evaluation as part of health technology assessment for medical devices. On the basis of the selected original studies, the authors summarize the main methods used in the decision-making processes about the development of new medical devices and discuss their benefits and limitations. The methods employed in this study include a method of literature search in the databases Web of Science, MEDLINE, and Embase, and a method of comparison and evaluation of the results. The findings of this study indicate that the most preferred methods used in the economic evaluations of medical device development are cost-utility analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. In addition, the Headroom Method is recommended to be used in the early assessment of the medical device development since it uses broader estimates of potential by determining the maximum reimbursable price of the new device. Selection of each method then depends on the research question, the condition of interest, and the availability of data on outcomes. There is an urgent need to conduct the early assessment of the medical device development in order to avoid negatively high costs and prevent a failure rate at each stage of the development process.