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Health Technology Assessment

Key information

  • Module code:

    5MBI0001

  • Level:

    5

  • Semester:

      Spring

  • Credit value:

    15

Module description

The module will introduce the broad field of Health Technology Assessment (HTA). HTA is a collection of methodologies used to make evidenced based assessment of the value added by new technologies to inform policy and decision making. The module will introduce the full life-cycle of a new medical technology from the perspective of a device inventor and a government regulator, including safety regulations. It will cover methodologies including systematic reviewing, decision theory, evidence synthesis, health economics and the overall methodology used for HTA in practice. 

Assessment details

  • 30% Presentation

  • 70% Report

Educational aims & objectives

This module will introduce students to the field of Health Technology Assessment. The overarching aim is for students to develop an awareness and understanding of how new healthcare technologies are developed and how their value is assessed. This includes an understanding of the regulatory environment, awareness of the main stakeholders and decision makers, and an ability to perform evidence based reviews and make informed decisions based on this evidence.

  

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course the students will (be able to):

  • Understand the 'med-tech lifecycle' and be able to apply general concepts to individual example technologies.

  • Describe how new medical devices (or other innovations) are regulated, using the UK regulatory environment as an example. This includes describing the roles and responsibilities of different agencies, and being able to search known information repositories to evaluate real-world safety data.

  • Describe how a government agency such as NICE would evaluate the societal value of a new health technology and make decisions on whether to adopt it.

  • Perform a systematic review of a new health technology.

  • Synthesize evidence based on meta-analyses.

  • Make evidence-based decisions based on formalised decision theory.

  • Understand health economics and estimate economic costs and benefits using a formal framework.

  • Perform a health technology assessment (HTA) to critically evaluate a new technology (taking into account the previous learning outcomes).

  • Present a coherent analysis of a complex critical evaluation.

  

Teaching pattern

Weekly lecture and tutorial

Subject areas

Department

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.