EXPERIENCES IN ADAPTING EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT RAPID REVIEWS TO INFORM LOCAL DECISION MAKING.

Objectives: The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) produces rapid reviews on nonmedicine technologies to inform advice for decision making in the National Health Service in Scotland (NHSScotland). This study describes our experiences and lessons learned in adapting for NHSScotland two rapid Relative Effectiveness Assessments (REAs) produced as part of the European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) project to test collaborative preparation and then local adaptation.

Methods: The REAs were examined for their relevance to NHSScotland and the feasibility of their adaptation evaluated using a screening toolkit.

The Healthcare Improvement Scotland evidence note rapid review process: providing timely, reliable evidence to inform imperative decisions on healthcare.

Aim: Rapid review has become widely adopted by health technology assessment agencies in response to demand for evidence-based information to support imperative decisions. Concern about the credibility of rapid reviews and the reliability of their findings has prompted a call for wider publication of their methods. In publishing this overview of the accredited rapid review process developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, we aim to raise awareness of our methods and advance the discourse on best practice.