Our Methods
HTA frameworks, analytical tools and deliberative methods
We develop practical methods that help governments make evidence-informed decisions about which health services to fund. Our work combines Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes (EDPs), adaptive HTA, costing methods and citizen involvement to support transparent and implementable health policy decisions.
Our Methods
Our methods help governments make transparent, evidence-informed and practical decisions about health benefit packages.
Health Technology Assessment (HTA) provides the analytical foundation for assessing the value, affordability and feasibility of health services. We organise decision-making through Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes (EDPs), which combine evidence, explicit decision criteria and stakeholder deliberation.
We complement this approach with adaptive HTA methods where data or capacity are limited, the UHC Compendium costing tool to estimate system-wide resource requirements, and structured citizen involvement to strengthen legitimacy and public accountability.
Where countries need to move quickly, we adapt our methods to support a rigorous process within 6–12 months.
We also contribute to global guidance and open-access methods that help countries strengthen national priority-setting systems.
Key Methods / Frameworks
- Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
We use HTA as a comprehensive, value-reflective approach to inform coverage decisions, combining evidence assessment, economic evaluation and appraisal of health technologies and services. - Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes (EDPs)
We developed EDPs as a governance framework for HTA that defines explicit decision criteria, guides systematic evidence appraisal and embeds decision-making within transparent institutional procedures.- Oortwijn W, Jansen M, Baltussen R. Evidence-informed deliberative processes. A practical guide for HTA bodies for legitimate benefit package design. 2nd version. Nijmegen, the Netherlands; 2021.
- Baltussen R, Jansen M, Oortwijn W. Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes for Legitimate Health Benefit Package Design – Part I: Conceptual Framework. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022;11(10):2319–2326.
- Oortwijn W, Jansen M, Baltussen R. Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes for Health Benefit Package Design – Part II: A Practical Guide. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022;11(10):2327–2336.
- Deliberative Methods
We develop and apply formal deliberative approaches to organise appraisal discussions, clarify trade-offs and ensure reasoned justification of decisions. We have led the development of international standards on deliberative processes in HTA through taskforce guidance that is now widely used.- Oortwijn W, Husereau D, Abelson J, Barasa E, Bayani DD, Canuto Santos V, Culyer A, Facey K, Grainger D, Kieslich K, Ollendorf D, Pichon-Riviere A, Sandman L, Strammiello V, Teerawattananon Y. Designing and Implementing Deliberative Processes for Health Technology Assessment: A Good Practices Report of a Joint HTAi/ISPOR Task Force. Value Health. 2022 Jun;25(6):869-886. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2022.03.018. PMID: 35667778; PMCID: PMC7613534
- Oortwijn, W., & Sampietro-Colom, L. (eds.). (2022). The VALIDATE handbook: an approach on the integration of values in doing assessments of health technologies. Version 2.0. DOI: 10.54195/CKHB1659.
- Grin J, Bloemen B, Gutierrez-Ibarluzea I, Hofmann B, Oortwijn W, Refolo P, et al. Learning and practicing more value-reflective, problem-setting health technology assessment: experiences and lessons from the VALIDATE project. Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2022;38(1):e63.
- Bloemen B, Oortwijn W. Assessing medical devices: a qualitative study from the validate perspective. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. 2024;40(1):e29. doi:10.1017/S0266462324000254
- Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)
We develop guidance on the use of MCDA to structure appraisal in HTA and health benefit package revision, examining how criteria are defined, evidence combined, and trade-offs made, while addressing limitations such as weighting choices and risks of false precision.- Baltussen R, Nouhi M, Mirelman A, Siddiqi S, Nemzoff C, Surgey G, Umuhoza S, Zhetibaeva S, Isaeva B, Vassal A. Health Benefit Package Revision Is an Art as Much as a Science – Lessons Learned on the Organization of the Appraisal Phase. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2025;14:8819
- Baltussen R, Marsh K, Thokala P, Diaby V, Castro H, Cleemput I, Garau M, Iskrov G, Olyaeemanesh A, Mirelman A, Mobinizadeh M, Morton A, Tringali M, van Til J, Valentim J, Wagner M, Youngkong S, Zah V, Toll A, Jansen M, Bijlmakers L, Oortwijn W, Broekhuizen H. Multicriteria Decision Analysis to Support Health Technology Assessment Agencies: Benefits, Limitations, and the Way Forward. Value Health. 2019 Nov;22(11):1283-1288
- Adaptive HTA
We apply adaptive HTA methods to assess HBP prioritisation criteria in settings with limited data, time or institutional capacity, balancing analytical rigour with political feasibility. - Universal Health Coverage Compendium (UHCC) Costing Tool
We developed and apply the UHCC costing tool as an ingredient-based service classification and resource modelling approach to estimate the fiscal and system implications of health benefit packages. - Citizen Involvement
We integrate participatory approaches to incorporate societal values into coverage decisions and strengthen legitimacy and accountability.