Abstract
BackgroundRapid response in health technology assessment is a synthesis of the best available evidence prepared in a timely manner to meet specific demands. We build a consensus among Brazilian specialists in health technology assessment to propose guidelines for the development of rapid response.MethodsBased on a systematic review that proposed eight methodological steps to conduct rapid response, we applied a modified Delphi technique (without open questions in the first round) to reach consensus among Brazilian experts in health technology assessment. Twenty participants were invited to judge the feasibility of each methodological step in a five-point Likert scale. Consensus was reached if the step had 70% positive approval or interquartile range ≤ 1.ResultsThe achievement of consensus was reached in the second round. Between the first and the second round, we scrutinized all points reported by the experts. The Delphi panel reached consensus of eight steps: definition of the structured question of rapid response (with a restricted scope); definition of the eligibility criteria for study types (preferably systematic reviews); search strategy (language and data limits) and sources of information (minimum two); selection of studies (independently by two responders); critical appraisal of the included studies and the risk of bias for the outcomes of interest; data extraction from the included articles; summary of evidence; and preparation of the report.ConclusionsThe guidelines for rapid response in health technology assessment may help governments to make better decisions in a short period of time (35 days). The adoption of methodological processes should improve both the quality and consistency of health technology assessments of rapid decisions in the Brazilian setting.
Highlights
Rapid response in health technology assessment is a synthesis of the best available evidence prepared in a timely manner to meet specific demands
We build a consensus among Brazilian specialists in health technology assessment to propose guidelines for the development of a rapid response to be carried out in 35 days. This time frame was defined by the Ministry of Health, because their process of decision making about introduction of a health technology should be completed by end of 180 days. Design and settings This is a process of consensus performed by a modified Delphi technique sent by email [20]
Between the first and the second round, we wrote an introduction about the rapid response, which achieved 75% of consensus
Summary
Rapid response in health technology assessment is a synthesis of the best available evidence prepared in a timely manner to meet specific demands. Regardless of the approach adopted, a hierarchy of evidence directs the process to the most reliable publications [3]. In this scenario, systematic reviews are prioritized by their ability to disseminate the information on a well-structured question [4]. The time and Health technology assessment agencies are adopting rapid reviews to support decision in a timely manner [7]. Experiences from Canada [8] and Scotland [9] reveal that transparency and intensive user feedback increase the responsiveness They report a broad range of topics: since health service utilization to drugs
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