The European Health Technology Institute for Socio-Economic Research is an independent research institute aimed at developing data and evidence on the social and economic value of medical technology and its impact on the economy and welfare of European countries. The Research Institute is composed of prestigious European universities (TU Berlin, Università Bocconi and the London School of Economics), policy-makers and industry (Eucomed, the European medical technology industry association). Partners Institutions:

The European Health Technology Institute for Socio-Economic Research (EHTI) was invited as Expert by DG Enterprise to discuss the value of a medical device for the European citizen captured in Europe in the frame of the Exploratory process on the Future of the Medical devices sector.

In the Exploratory Process on the Future of the Medical Devices sector, Rosanna Tarricone - Executive Director of EHTI - said the way medical devices are valued in Europe is still far from providing European citizens with the complete picture. The perspective is so narrow that it often does not look beyond the single healthcare services deliverer or, at best, the healthcare system.

The value of medical devices is usually determined, based on cost savings to the hospitals or the healthcare system, and "hard" health outcomes (e.g. survival rate). Too rarely, the quality of life of patients and principal caregivers, or the return to productivity are taken into account. This effectively prevents policy-makers from taking unbiased decisions on the uptake of innovative technologies that substantially contribute to societies' welfare.

Even when assessing their value solely from the perspective of healthcare systems, the assessment too often only takes into account part of the story. Silo-budgeting almost always prevents from obtaining the full picture which means that the benefits and advantages of medical devices to the community and the field of homecare are often lost.

Short-term thinking inhibits fully capturing the value of several technologies whose initial investment costs are steep, but more than offset by their long-term benefits. Moreover, some assessment methods currently in use do not always fit the peculiar characteristics of medical devices, having been developed with pharmaceuticals in mind. Prof. Tarricone continued.

Much works still needs to be done and initiatives such as the Exploratory Process are of paramount importance because they gather all relevant stakeholders whose knowledge and perspective is key to make a substantial step forward in valuing medical devices in Europe.