Organization of the meeting

During the days of November 14 to 16, the Regional Meeting of Practice Guides and IX Meeting of RedETSA was held in Panama City, where 53 people from 16 countries and 29 different organizations were present. For the first time, those responsible for the practice guides in the Region of the Americas and the Health Technology Assessment Network of the Americas organized together an in-person meeting that aimed to advance the integration of HTA mechanisms and Practice Guides to inform decision-making and monitor its application to move towards Universal Health.

Central axis and topics discussed

On the first day of the meeting, topics related to the ETS and RedETSA were discussed, such as updating activities by the secretariat (PAHO) and members, updating Collaborating Centers and defining priorities for 2018. There were also panels and discussion on Devices Medical (evaluation methodologies; priority medical devices; prices; management) and on Economic Evaluations (transferability; models; high-cost diseases).

On the second day of the meeting, topics related to Practice Guides were discussed. The participants presented the advances and difficulties in the area; The “Manual for strengthening national evidence-informed guideline programs: a tool for the adaptation and implementation of guidelines in the Americas” was presented, and the adaptation of evidence-informed guidelines in the Americas was discussed and worked in groups. the region.

The third day was about the integration of HTA mechanisms and Practice Guides. The incorporation of the patients' perspective in the HTA processes and the Practice Guides and a methodology for preparing short reports were discussed, and several participants presented experiences of integrating mechanisms to support coverage decision-making in their countries. . Finally, the best ways to strengthen the institutionalization and integration of mechanisms to support coverage decisions were discussed in groups, and next steps were agreed upon.