Health Technology Assessment, Evidence Based Healthcare & Decision Science – (M.Sc.)

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) has been defined by the International Network of Agencies for HTA (INAHTA) as "a multidisciplinary field of policy analysis, studying the medical, economic, social, and ethical implications of development, diffusion and use of health technologies (e.g., drugs, devices, surgical procedures, prevention techniques)". The comprehensive assessment of any action in medicine, public health, or health care management falls into the realm of HTA. The primary focus of HTA is on evaluating the intended benefits versus the unintended risks of health technologies. Because of its direct policy implications, HTA is increasingly in demand worldwide.
Evidence-based Health-Care (EBHC) was described by Appleby in 1995 as "a shift in the culture of health care provision, away from basing decisions on opinions, past practice and precedent, and towards making more use of science, research and evidence to guide decisions" and represents the second important part of the program.
Decision Science (DS), the third fundamental part of the program, is the application of explicit and quantitative methods to analyze decisions under conditions of uncertainty (e.g., utility theory, medical and public health decision making, meta-analysis, decision-analytic modeling, benefit-risk analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis). DS has become increasingly relevant to health care policymakers because it is increasingly used to synthesize good evidence to assess long-term benefit-harm balance and cost-effectiveness of new interventions in health and medicine in a transparent and explicit manner.

In order to keep pace with developments in the health sector and the increasing demand for professionals skilled in these three relevant disciplines, the UMIT - HTADS Program will provide a comprehensive training in the key issues of HTA, EBHC and DS.

For information on the content of the Masters Program and application and selection procedures:

Uwe Siebert, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD
Professor of Public Health (UMIT)
Adjunct Professor of Health Policy & Management (Harvard University)
Director, Institute for Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment
Chair, Department of Public Health, Information Systems and Health Technology Assessment

UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology
Eduard Wallnoefer Center I, A-6060 Hall i.T., Austria
Phone: +43 (0)50 8648-3990
Fax: +43 (0)50 8648-673901
E-mail: htads@umit.at
Internet:
For general student information at UMIT

Christa Ramnek
Admission Department, Student Service
UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology
Eduard Wallnoefer Center I, A-6060 Hall i.T., Austria
Phone: +43 (0)50 8648-3837
Fax: +43 (0)50 8648-673837
E-mail: christa.ramnek@umit.at