In 2014, Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) (www.htai.org) collaborated with a broad range of international stakeholders to develop a set of values and quality standards for patient involvement in Health Technology Assessment (HTA). The values provide foundational principles highlighting the importance of including patients in HTA. The quality standards offer practical steps HTA bodies can take to ensure meaningful patient involvement, both in individual assessments and in shaping general HTA processes.

Values for Patient Involvement

Relevance
Patients have knowledge, perspectives and experiences that are unique and contribute to essential evidence for HTA.
Fairness
Patients have equal rights to participate in HTA alongside other stakeholders, with access to engagement mechanisms that enable effective contribution.
Equity
Patient involvement in HTA contributes to equity by seeking to understand the diverse needs of patients with a particular health issue, balanced against the requirements of a health system that seeks to distribute resources fairly among all users.
Legitimacy
Including patients in HTA enhances transparency, accountability, and the credibility of decisions by involving those directly affected.
Capacity Building
Identifying barriers and strengthening the ability of both patients and HTA organisations to collaborate is essential to meaningful involvement.

Quality standards for patient involvement in HTA: 


General HTA Process
  • ✔️HTA organisations have a defined strategy outlining the procedures and responsibilities for those working in HTA and serving on HTA committees to effectively involve patients. 
  • ✔️HTA organisations designate appropriate resources to ensure and support effective patient involvement in HTA. 
  • ✔️HTA participants (including researchers, staff, HTA reviewers and committee members) receive training about appropriate involvement of patients and consideration of patients’ perspectives throughout the HTA process.
  • ✔️Patients and patient organisations are given the opportunity to participate in training to empower them so that they can best contribute to HTA. 
  • ✔️Patient involvement processes are regularly reviewed and refined based on stakeholder experiences, with the aim of continuous improvement.
For Individual HTAs
  • 📣Proactive communication strategies are used to effectively reach, inform and enable a wide range of patients to fully participate in each HTA.
  • ⏰Clear timelines are established for each HTA with advance notice of deadlines to ensure that appropriate input from a wide range of patients can be obtained. 
  • 👥For each HTA, HTA organisations identify a staff member whose role is to support patients in contributing effectively to HTA. 
  • 📝In each HTA, patients’ perspectives and experiences are documented and the influence of patients’ contributions on conclusions and recommendations is reported.
  • 🔄Feedback is given to patient organisations who have contributed to an HTA, to share what contributions were most helpful and provide suggestions to assist their future involvement. 

Implementation of these values and standards is still evolving. However, patient groups play a key role in advocating for their adoption and are encouraged to actively engage with HTAi initiatives to promote and strengthen patient involvement in HTA.