International collaboration and activities on health technology assessment

NOMA collaborates with international organisations and networks to support access to safe and effective medical products. Our international activities are important to develop HTA and address shared challenges. We participate in international networks to standardize, share knowledge and improve the systematic evaluation of medical products, i.e. health technology assessments, across national borders.

Participation in global health technology assessment networks

Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi)

Founded in 2003 HTAi is a professional society open to anyone with interest in HTA, including HTA bodies, decision-makers, patient organizations, clinicians, and industry. HTAi encourages the use of existing HTAs internationally. Its main annual event is the HTAi conference.

HTAi has several interest groups that focus on important issues, for example patient involvement, information retrieval, early awareness of technologies and disinvestment of less or non-effective medical products, as well as HTA in low- and middle-income countries. Several NOMA employees participate in HTAi interest groups.

Read more about HTAi here.

HTAi Global Policy Forum

HTAi arranges annually the HTAi Global Policy Forum. This forum provides the opportunity for strategic discussions about the present state of HTA, its development and implications for health systems, industry, patients and other stakeholders. NOMA is a member of the HTAi Global Policy Forum and has two representatives in the meetings.

International Horizon Scanning Initiative (IHSI)

Based in Belgium and established in 2019, the International Horizon Scanning Initiative (IHSI) is a not-for-profit collaboration for horizon scanning. The goal is to establish a joint horizon scanning system for pharmaceutical products. In 2024, nine countries participate in this collaboration, including Norway. Norwegian participating organizations are The Norwegian Hospital Procurement Trust (Sykehusinnkjøp HF) and NOMA. Our participation in IHSI is intended to reduce resources devoted to the national early awareness and alert system in the long term.

In 2021, IHSI has contracted the Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) for international horizon scanning for pharmaceuticals. In parallel, IHSI has established the IHSI Medical Devices Working Group seeking to explore the possibility of expanding the system to also involve medical devices. The group is led by the National Health Care Institute in the Netherlands (Zorginstituut Nederland) and NOMA.

European collaboration on health technology assessment 

NOMA has a long history of collaboration with European partners, including joint assessment of clinical effectiveness and safety, sharing and developing methodology, skills and expertise in order to achieve more efficient access to high quality healthcare. 

European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA)

There has been European collaboration on HTA since 2006 in several project periods. EUnetHTA Joint Action 3 (2016–2021) included more than 80 participating organizations from 30 countries, including Norway and NOMA.

EUnetHTA Joint Action 3 was succeeded by EUnetHTA 21, a consortium of 13 European partners including NOMA (2021–2023) who built their work on previous joint actions. The main aim was to support and prepare a future HTA system under the regulation on HTA. 

Read about EUnetHTA here.

European HTA Regulation (HTAR) 

The HTA Regulation lays the foundation for cooperation on joint health technology assessments within the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA).

Read about HTAR here.

HTAR activities NOMA is involved in:

Coordination Group on Health Technology Assessment (HTACG)

HTA Coordination Group (HTACG) was established in 2022 as a coordinating and decision-making group that manages the collaboration under HTAR. It is composed mainly of representatives of HTA authorities and bodies in all EU and EEA countries. Norway is represented by the Regional Health Authorities and NOMA.

Read about HTACG here.

NOMA is involved in the following subgroups that support and operationalize the work of HTACG:

• Joint Clinical Assessments (preparation of HTAs on relative effectiveness and safety)
• Joint Scientific Consultations with manufacturers before clinical studies are initiated
• Identification of Emerging Health Technologies (horizon scanning; identification of new technologies that may be relevant for joint clinical assessments)
• Development of Methodological and Procedural Guidance

Heads of Agencies Group (HAG)

The Heads of HTA Agencies Group (HAG) is a collaborative network with over 30 European healthcare agencies from more than 20 participating countries. Its main purposes are to advance strategic collaboration in HTA and support the European Commission, HTACG, and national systems in preparing for the implementation of HTAR. NOMA is a member of the HAG and leads the working group for communication.

Read about HAG here.

Nordic collaboration on health technology assessment

Joint Nordic HTA-Bodies (JNHB)

Joint Nordic HTA-Bodies (JNHB, formerly known as FINOSE) is a collaboration including the Danish Medicines Council (DMC), the Finnish Medicines Agency (Fimea), Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland, the Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency (TLV) in Sweden and NOMA. The JNHB collaboration concerns pharmaceutical products. 

Read about the JNHB here.

Nordic HTA Network

The Nordic HTA Network is a collaboration between NOMA, the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Social Services (SBU), the Danish Health Technology Council (Behandlingsrådet, DHTC), and the Finnish Coordinating Centre for Health Technology Assessment (FinCCHTA). The Nordic HTA Network is established to facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing between Nordic organizations who conduct HTAs of medical devices, procedures, and other non-pharmaceutical technologies. Their purpose is to optimize and streamline this work on a national level in the respective participating countries.