Where to From Here: Advancing Patient and Public Involvement in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

How has the COVID-19 pandemic, as a global medical emergency, changed attitudes and practices in HTA? This global emergency has seen wider recruitment of patients and the public to large clinical trials, generation of real-world evidence and rapid reviews, expedited regulatory processes, and faster access to new indications and technologies. Organizational cultures and ways of working have had to shift because of the immediate needs of patients and the public. This has led to greater use of digital health technologies and the need to effectively communicate health concepts on a wider scale. Over the years patient and public involvement in HTA has evolved in some countries from having a seat at the table to being a partner in at least a part of the process. This may include involvement in identifying and measuring person-relevant outcomes, collection of patient-based experience and evidence, or in shaping and co-designing processes to support identifying patient and public values. The COVID-19 pandemic has also led to unintended consequences for patient and public involvement and highlighted gaps. 

For this Research Topic, we seek to investigate and discuss the main challenges for patients and public involvement in HTA. How can we advance involvement to form partnerships now and into the future to inform patient input and what lessons can we learn from global COVID-19 experiences?

If COVID-19 has helped improve digital and health literacy, how can we continue to build confidence, capability, and capacity for patients and the public in the science of regulatory processes and HTA? How can patients and the public effectively input into economic analyses and equity? Perspectives of people and organizations from a variety of countries and where applicable population groups within countries are important.  

Manuscripts including empirical, methods, policy-based, reviews, commentaries, and opinion papers are welcome. Papers on related issues will also be considered. The areas we highlight for addressing are:

• How can we continue to build confidence, capability, and capacity for patients and the public in HTA?

• How do we give voice to underrepresented populations in the HTA process? And what other gaps have been exposed?

• Challenges in involving patients and public in expedited HTA processes

• The role of patients and partnership in generating high-quality reproducible real-world evidence on new and emergent technologies

• Organizational culture – patient communities as part of the solution and not the problem

• The role of public and patients in public health and HTA , values and trade-offs

• Use of digital technologies, and social media, as enablers

• Integrated pathways in regulatory, guideline and HTA processes

• Partnerships and science of patient participation in HTA

• Incorporating the patient voice in cost-effectiveness and economic analysis.