To materialize the spirit of the second-generation national health insurance (NHI) that emphasize=+0s health technology assessment and multiparty participation in decision making, the Department of Health (DOH), Executive Yuan, specially commissioned the Center for Drug Evaluation, Taiwan, to assist in the foundation of the Preparatory Office of the National Institute of Health Technology Assessment, Taiwan (NIHTA). The inauguration ceremony of the Preparatory Office was held today (January 16th) at 2:00 p.m. Minister Chiu Wen-ta of DOH was invited to make a speech and offer encouragement at the ceremony, and representatives from relevant ministries and departments, academic institutions, as well as businesses and industries also joined the event. 

The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) system has always been considered an important means of ensuring the effective use and reasonable distribution of the limited medical resources. In recent years, the HTA system has been introduced in Taiwan’s NHI system for new drug enlistment applications, and the Center for Drug Evaluation, Taiwan, has been entrusted by the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) for HTA execution. This procedure involves conducting systematic integration and assessment based on scientific empirical evidence for efficacy, economy and suitability of new drugs for Taiwan, hence providing the NHI Pharmaceutical Affairs Committee with important references for decisions on new drugs enlistment. However, due to the small scale of the existing system, it may not be able to tackle the second-generation NHI system’s HTA demands. In order to ensure the sustainability of the NHI system and promote the effective use of Taiwan’s medical resources, the DOH referred to the HTA systems worldwide, including: Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) of the U.K., Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) of Australia, etc., and worked towards the establishment of NIHTA. It not only provides decision makers with scientific empirical references for defining the NHI payment coverage and payment standards, but also aims to launch research and development collaboration on health technology assessment among academic research institutions, businesses and industries, and medical practices in Taiwan, so that Taiwan’s HTA system will achieve a more all-round development. 

The independent NIHTA has a major objective of providing BNHI with references for executing payments for various medical services, but it is not organizationally under the command of BNHI or other relevant health research units. Taiwan may be rated first in Asia in the international medical and health care arena. 

The establishment of the Preparatory Office of NIHTA will actively put the assessment of new drugs and new medical devices into practice, and hence provide BNHI with highly reliable health technology assessment and recommendation in the enlistment mechanism for NHI payment, so that the most suitable health technology will be employed to meet the patients’ needs. In addition, the Institute will also assist BNHI in establishing a fair, systematic, multiparty-participating decision-making platform and mechanism, and play the role of spreading and exchanging knowledge and ideas, so that more voices can be heard during the decision-making process related to NHI payments. Consequently, NHI information will be made open and transparent to a greater degree, reducing unnecessary controversies, and building up a scientific and just medical resources distribution mechanism with Taiwanese characteristics. Also, Taiwan’s national health insurance will live up to social justice and social equity expectations to a greater extent, while the quality of medical services may be enhanced, leading to the achievement of NHI’s ultimate goals.