Health technology assessment

p). The technology assessed can always be in the form of a surgical procedure, a drug or a medical device. This process is purposed to fill the gaps that exist between evidence and policymaking. It gives the policymakers a platform through which they can benchmark usable and easily accessible information which is evidence-based to guide their decisions concerning the appropriate use of technology and the efficient allocation of medical resources. It is also important to note that this process is necessitated by the tension that continuously grows between the new costly technologies and the limited sources in the health sector with regards to the patients who need the medical services. With regards to clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, health technology assessment is of importance to the decision makers as it helps them in making decisions with regards to technologies that are effective and those that are not, and it also helps them with the appropriate allocations for their uses.

In this line, this paper will look at the critical importance of health technology assessment to the effective and efficient management of health organizations and the health sector in Trinidad and Tobago, now and into the future. The importance of health technology assessment in the health sector in Trinidad and Tobago The hospitals in Trinidad and Tobago are faced by high patient demands, inadequate capital resources, and an escalating cost of capital. For this reason, a throughput strategy is used in the management of most hospitals in this country. It is mainly used for the purpose of reducing the menace of crowds in the hospitals in Trinidad and Tobago. p). This will ensure that the qualitative aspect of the throughput management style is optimized and in turn benefit the health sector in Trinidad and Tobago by making it efficient and effective both in the short run and the long run.

Radiology services. The other medical aspect that collided with the throughput strategy used in Trinidad and Tobago is the radiology services offered by hospitals in that country. Research indicates that it takes so long for patients to obtain radiology services in Trinidad and Tobago. Unfortunately, the operations of other social apparatus in this country are not reliable and for this reason, most needy medical cases are always left for the medical social works department (Bahall, n. p). The problem is that this department has limited resources and this causes a problem in service delivery to the citizens in this country. If health technology assessment was to be applied in the operations of medical services in this country, things will change for the better.

Health technology assessment will turn the social sector around by providing a reliable decision-making platform that will ensure that the value that patients get in a particular health technology is greater than the costs incurred (Djambazov and Vekov, n. Health technology assessment in the pharmaceutical sector is mainly for the purpose of regulating prices. By embracing health technology assessment processes, pharmaceutical companies willing to trade in Trinidad and Tobago will be forced to submit dossiers on the drugs they are selling and, the benefits of their drugs will be compared against existing standards. The submission will also force the companies to give details on the prices of particular drugs in other countries (Rehmann and Heimhalt, n. p). These details will be essential in the negotiations of drug prices to ensure that citizens of Trinidad and Tobago pay a fair price like everyone else, and it will also protect them from extortion by pharmaceutical companies.