Health Technology Assessment international

Transcription

1 Health Technology Assessment international HTAi Interest Group Steering Committee Meeting Meeting: May 11, 2016, 17:00h Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo, Japan Participants: Sean Tunis (Chair) Marco Marchetti, Hospital-based HTA Karen Facey, Vaccines in HTA Wija Oortwijn, Ethics and HTA Gert van der Wilt, Ethics and HTA Franz Pichler, Regulatory Interactions & Conditional Coverage Janney Wale, Patient and Citizen Involvement Neil Bertersen, Patient and Citizen Involvement Ingrid Harboe, Information Resources Group (changing name to Information Retrieval Group) Hans Peter Dauben, Disinvestment and Early Awareness Debjani Mueller representing Rabia Kahveci HTA in Developing Countries Regrets: Emmanuel Odame, Early Career Network Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop, Impact of Public Health Interactions Urs Brügger, Regulatory Interactions & Conditional Coverage Observers: Guy, Board Chair David Grainger, Board Director Francois Meyer, Board Director Don Juzwishin, Board Director Lucy Turner, HTAi Managing Director Tara Blasco-Raj, HTAi Secretariat Welcome and Introductions The meeting was called to order at 17:00h and participants were welcomed and introduced. Sean Tunis stated the Interest Groups (IG s) are a priority for the Board and the HTAi Society. Approval of Agenda The agenda was approved as circulated. Approval of March Minutes Completed July 7, 2016

2 The draft Minutes of March 15, 2016 were approved as circulated with one change to Item Request for Funding and the comment made by Neil Bertelsen who stated that the his substantive comment was that if the IG s went for the shared approach of the distribution of $2,500 his group could not actually go ahead with their event they find it difficult to obtain funding sources and it was more that the distribution of sharing of the pot equally doesn t necessarily mean that each of the projects can go ahead - rather than the context on the funding. He did report that his group have received funding from other sources since then. Sean Tunis stated that it was really a utilitarian solution, and not really an effective solution, not having come up with a better plan and the Society is currently struggling through to get to a point where they have the resources and more clarity about the kinds of things that the Society will and won t be able to fund. Sean provided an update on the HTAi Strategic Plan noting it is open for comment as is up for adoption at the HTAi Annual General Meeting on May 12 th, Karen Facey stated that date corrections are required on the printed document ( vs ). Lucy Turner reported that groundwork has been started that could be part of the deliverables for Action: Date to be corrected in the next printing as the public record shows the document {Done} Meeting Discussion: Some members felt that the Strategic Direction document was very confusing but indicated that the diagram was very helpful to help clarify confusion although there was some disappointment with the vision. Sean responded that strategy plans are a lot more ambitious than the vision and reflect more on the kind of policy activism that the members are used to the Society representing and perhaps the vision statement isn t as compelling as the strategies that are outlined especially around the Policy Forum s and the IG partnerships. Lucy Turner stated that the vision may not be changed at this time and that there were three working task groups formed in 2014 that completed quite an amount of work. When developing the Strategic Plan the vision may be revisited. Guy commented that the Strategic Plan was commissioned by the Board under the direction by the Past-President, with heavy engagement by the board, and the current document is something members can refer to and get some idea of what is going on and it is an incredibly good piece of marketing and changes will be made as required. Action: Revisit areas of confusion and perhaps move diagram upfront. The IG strategy is clearly identified as a strategic priority for the Society as it has been inadequate in the past and not fully part of the Secretariat s functions. The Strategic Plan provides support reinforced by the Board which will determine how to leverage past success, expand and optimize IGs as a means of sharing knowledge and building a community of HTA learning. The Society will also plan for a new platform of processes for IGs, prioritizing topics and creating improved ways to disseminate IGs reports. The Society can support all of the IGs but it will be proportional to their activity and financial support may not always be available. By direction, we will allocate resources where productive work is being done to fully engage members but the challenge will still be the ability to get funding. It was noted that some IGs have done good things with minimal support. Completed March 21,

3 Hans Peter Dauben commented that some groups spend all the resources available just setting up communications and Google groups is not working well to contact the membership and other contacts. He asked that the Society not block their work noting that IG member contact is as necessary as Secretariat support and is an urgent issue that needs to be rectified. Lucy Turner responded that the Secretariat has recently hired more administrative support and Anna Williams is now on board to help with support. The Secretariat currently has an operating system that doesn t work and the Board has just approved funding to work with a consultant to develop a new operating system although this will take some time. Once complete, it is anticipated that the IGs will be able to administer their own web pages, documents and forums. At the development state all IGs will be contacted for further input. The Board has also approved the hiring of a full-time Secretariat staff member that will be dedicated to IGs and Membership. Recruitment will start immediately. Additional funding sources would help to get a mechanism in place with a regimented cycle and other mechanisms to solve issues, such as providing individual phone lines to each group through Webex have been discussed but that comes at a cost and although there would not be additional funds for specific processes there would be dedicated members of staff and structural support. Hans Peter Dauben informed the Committee that EUnetHTA has a Sharepoint platform and could offer a capsule or virtual working zone accessible from anywhere in the world to anyone that is a public institution. The IGs could utilize this starting June 1, 2016 at no cost. EUnetHTA is currently looking for experts in HTA and all experts can register. This system is designed to capture an expert database and the working group capsules can share documents, have discussions and send news. External websites and telephone linkages would still be a required support from the Secretariat. Lucy responded that the new IT operating system created for HTAi is expected to support all activities and will be housed at the Secretariat. Lucy stated that a number one priority is to set up a Webex platform for all IGs and find an interim solution to the Google Groups as it is currently not working. Action: Secretariat to look at different options to allow for continual communications among the members of each of the IGs as well as providing assistance to update the IGs membership lists. It was asked if there had been Board level discussions on innovative financing and what happens if a number of people bring in restricted funding for an individual IG. Lucy responded that the Secretariat would monitor the amounts but there are compliance agreements required for each sponsor and Anna Williams could process the agreements quickly. This would then be tracked through HTAi but it was recommended that each Interest Group also track for accountability and reporting. HTAi would be the point of contact for the in-take of all funds and if there were other issues, such as insurance and/or indemnity HTAi would need to directly apply for the funding on behalf of the IGs. Guy Maddern commented that there needs to be strict rules around the Society supporting the IGs and the funds will need to be offset against the expenses of supporting the groups and if there is a budget for the IGs then that is where this should be filtered. Karen Facey commented that it seems like the Society does not value the outputs of the IGs and does not realize what great things are happening in the IGs. She noted that there is added value from somehow changing this to be administrative support of IGs to do their own things and she was hoping there was something in the plan that Completed March 21,

4 she could hook onto and say that her interest group helped deliver. David Grainger agreed and commented he would like to see the Steering Committee evolve into something which is driving forth dissemination. Sean stated there is a lot of awareness of the value and quality of the work the IGs produce and there is a genuine desire for the Society to support it. Unfortunately, the Society over the last few years has been losing money each year and it has come to a point that they have been unable to even fund the IGs at a level shown in the past budget. The Board is working to solve the financial issues. There are currently 800 registrants for the Tokyo meeting which should help. The Society is looking forward to having resources to support the IGs and part of the support will be communicating all of the great things that the groups do which will also bring in and retain members and have them attend the annual meetings. The Society needs to have a business-like approach to everything for the time being and the approach to allocating resources to the IGs and support has not been as well coordinated as it could have been. Action: Processes for receiving and allocating funds need to be developed with the input of the IGSC. Processes for the dissemination of reports from the IGs need to be developed by the IGSC. The IGs are already doing what they can even without resources. A highly valued thing the Secretariat could do for the IGs is a much better job of the communications while letting the IGs work. The IGs require a working area to communicate what will be done and their work plan. Require a process for reporting to the Board and the membership on their activities achievements. Having a really good website where you can get the statistics is absolutely essential to the IGs. Lucy Turner reported on the two current teleconference systems used by the secretariat, InterCall and Citrix, and have recently trialed Webex which may be useful for interactive meetings of the IGs allowing for document sharing during meetings. Webex will also allow participants to connect by telephone into web-based meetings. Action: Require a functioning website and more prompt exchange of communication with the Secretariat and its membership. All members of the Steering Committee agreed on the important contributions the IGs. There is a need to find solutions to acquire funding from other sources. Maybe something missing in the Strategic Plan is identifying that one of the most appropriate IG(s) to pick up some of the challenges and issues raised at the Policy Fora. These linkages may help to further broaden the strategic initiatives of the Society. The IGs need to think about the efficiency of bi-annual reporting to the Board however to date they have not received any feedback from the Board and they don t know whether the Board uses those reports that can be key vehicles for communicating information which can also be useful on social media platforms. Sean commented that the communications from the IGs to the Board needs to become a huge priority and it seems clear that funding is not the most important issue for the groups. Action: Secretariat to ensure feedback from Board meetings on IGs reports and work plans is handled in a more timely manner. Completed March 21,

5 The Board also identified at their meeting that the linkages and communication exchange between the IGs and the Board need to be improved significantly. A Board member will be designated to each IG to act as an ombudsperson for any problems that the IG runs into that can be reported back to the Board. In the interim, any issues can be directed to Sean. One of the major concerns for the IG s has been a lack of capacity at the Secretariat and a delay in response to requests and corrections that need to be made. New staff hire at the Secretariat should help rectify these issues. There is an immediate need for a supporting person to assist with web postings and presentation of data as it is important for the IGs to find and make connections with people quickly and ensure members are active participants within the groups and the website can be used as a source of training document, and integrations to the HTAi database etc. Lucy Turner requested that the Steering Committee provide some recommendations around the job description and the type of Secretariat support they need. It was suggested that it include IT support and web management, communications, administrative support and strong program management skills. One thing particularly important to the IG s will be communications and hiring someone with the proper skillset to be able to see what the IG s are generating and be proactive and take the initiative to identify items by scanning all the IG activity looking for things worthy of communication. A really good advertisement for HTAi would be to have the Secretariat write up summary reports from preconference workshops held during the annual meetings to be posted on the website. Action: The final job description will be shared with the Steering Committee for their feedback. Americo Cicchetti commented that it would be helpful not only to ask the IG s what they need but also start to make a list of what can be used, what the potential could be and what the Secretariat can provide to the IGs at the moment looking at the capacity. Once a list is created further discussions can be started. For example, if an Interest Group wants to hold an HTAi event in another country the Secretariat should be involved in some manner to manage and support the activity. The IG could start thinking about creating regional events related to a specific group or groups together as a way to have multiple opportunities to be visible around the world and something different beyond the regular meetings with the IG(s). The list could include what the Secretariat can currently provide and the IGs can identify what new resources are required in the future and then the groups can provide a plan of action with a structured event and budget identifying what support is required and what the Secretariat can do for them. A written list will be developed based on feedback on what the Secretariat can do to support the IG s in a reasonable period of time. First, the groups will all need to agree on what the list is, and that the Board and the Secretariat can review and accept. In terms of logo access for all IGs, there is a process related to quality assurance and if any group wants to use the logo for an event it needs to come to the Steering Committee for approval. The Secretariat can provide support to the Steering Committee and to minutes for the Steering Committee, set up teleconferences for the Steering Committee and provide administrative and then other web-based support in the future. Other suggestions and/or specific actions that the groups would like to see done by the Secretariat can be provided to Lucy Turner or Sean. Completed March 21,

6 It was suggested that the IGs could each provide support to the Secretariat by providing an early career person to help establish the role and help with the administrative role with no additional cost to the Society. A call could go out for early career people to join IG s but they also must be willing to be involved and do the work. Debjani Mueller suggested that the IGs develop an Action Plan to match the Action Plan of the Secretariat and there needs to be some workable, interim solutions. The HTAi Strategic Planning Oversight Team (SPOT) was created to be an advisory team to the Board and was formed to address issues and ensure the Strategic Plan was moving in the right direction. The team developed a list of recommendations and some have already been executed. The Strategic Plan has been circulated. It is not unreasonable for the Society to support the IGs and there are some follow-ups to be done. The staffing issues at the Secretariat level will be solved and the Board has agreed to pitch in and problem-solve. Ingrid Harboe asked about a line item in the minutes from the meeting held on March 15, 2016 that recommended that $2,500 would be provided to IGs. Lucy responded that the recommendation was brought forward from the IG Steering Committee and was approved by the Board Executive Committee. The Board has approved this line in the budget pending minor revisions. An allotment of $25,000 will go to the IGs for a stub year ending December 31, 2016 but this would also be dependent upon call-based services. The budgeted $2,500 can still be honored as that was approved in the previous budget. Sean confirmed that the $2,500 was approved. Action: The IGs will receive these funds based on proposals already put forward as well as any backdated funds. Americo Cicchetti talked about the list of potential Scientific Program Committee members for the Rome meeting the Chair from each of the IGs are asked to participate. Action: If anyone has been missed from the invite list for the ISPC please send an to Americo at (americo69@icloud.com). No other business was discussed. The meeting was adjourned at 17:45h. Actions: Item 5.0 of the minutes of March 30, 2015 will be updated to accurately reflect Neil Bertelsen s comments as noted. [Done] The next printing of the HTAi Strategic Plan will include corrected changes. [Done] Sean and Lucy Turner will follow-up with Hans Peter Dauben on how the EUNAHTA Sharepoint works and what the benefits could be to the HTAi IGs. [Ongoing] The Secretariat will recruit an HTAi Project Coordinator to support IG s and Membership. [Done] Completed March 21,

7 A list of IG needs will be developed and provided to the Secretariat. [Continual Feedback] A Webex or other platform will be instituted to support meetings and an Interim solution to Google Groups will be found. [In progress] The Secretariat will provide administrative support to the IG Steering Committee. [Ongoing] A call may go out to the membership for early career people to join IGs. [Pending, optimal timing] The IGs will be informed which Board member has been assigned to their IG that will then act as the Ombudsman to have open communications with the Board. [Pending discussion at the July board meeting] IGs will receive $2,500 and any backdate funds owing. [In process] Completed March 21,