Dr Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea

Agency:

Osteba

Job Title:

Knowlege Manager

Organisation:

Basque Office for Health Technology Assessment

Tel:

(+34) 945 019250

Fax:

(+34) 945 019280

Email:

osteba7-san@ej-gv.es

Website:

http://www.osanet.euskadi.net/osteba/es

Address:

Osteba, Department of Health, Basque Government , Donostia-San Sebastian Kalea,1, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, 01010

Agency Member Since:

26/5/1998

Additional Contacts:

Rosa Rico

EAAS Name:

SorTek (Osteba)

EAAS Host Organisation:

Osteba, Basque Office for HTA

Country and/or Region:

Basque Country

Year EAAS formally established:

1992

EAAS Status:

Permanent

EAAS Main Output Language:

Basque, Spanish and English

EAAS Description:

SorTek, the early warning system established in 2000 for the Basque Office for HTA (Osteba), uses clinicians in over 20 different specialties and policy makers to identify potentially significant health technologies and to validate resulting early assessment reports. Osteba is 100% publicly funded and it is part of the Basque Government. Its main tasks are to identify, prioritise and evaluate new and emerging technologies that could be introduced in the Basque Health System. Its main customers are the Basque and Spanish Ministries of Health and the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza). The Basque Country’s strategy for dealing with new technologies differs from many regions and countries in that those technologies identified at an early stage where evidence is weak, are subjected to regulated introduction. This usually involves controlled use in a small number of hospitals where the technology is subjected to monitoring and further research. A regulatory law for the introduction of new and emerging non-drug technologies has been in place since November 2004 and has helped to formalize the process. There is evidence of the impact of the system in the diffusion of health technologies when compared with other autonomous regions in Spain. The network has established contacts with other similar organizations within Spain in order to share the methods and information gained. The system is currently interconnected with other system that identifies possibilities for disinvestment of in-practice existing ineffective, non cost-effective or harmful technologies.

Main source of funding:

National health system - Department of Health or health services

Purpose of EAAS:

• To inform decisions on coverage or reimbursement of health services
• To inform decisions on captical or recurrent spending
• To inform decisions on undertaking primary research
• To inform decisions on undertaking secondary research (health technology assessments, systematic reviews)
• Other:
• To inform decisions on partial coverage and setting of monitoring systems, and to inform decisions on disinvestment

Types of technologies covered by EAAS:

• Devices (including imaging equipment)
• Diagnostics (diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers)
• Interventional procedures (e.g. surgery)
• Programmes (e.g. screening and vaccination programmes)
• Health care settings (e.g. organisational changes, professional boundaries)

Main customers of EAAS:

• National Government Health Departments & Ministers
• Regional, State or Provincial Government
• Health services purchasers, commissioners or other decision makers
• Health care providers e.g. hospitals
• Health care professionals, medical advisors or clinical experts
• National research & development programme

Contents of Main Output from EAAS:

• Potential for significant health service impact
• Safety and efficacy
• Assessment of clinical effectiveness
• Assessment of cost effectiveness