11th June 2013

Do new health technologies reflect research inputs and needs?

Do new health technologies reflect research inputs and needs? A new publication from the NIHR Horizon Scanning Centre (NIHR HSC) looks to answer these questions. 

An analysis of the relationship between burden of disease, research funding and innovation, which was presented at last year’s Health Services Research Network Symposium, has now been published in the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy (April 2013, volume 18, 1 Suppl).

The NIHR HSC found that the weak relationship between burden of disease and new and emerging health technologies for different disease areas (as reported previously in Value in Health) was partly dependent on the associated level of research funding. Although disease areas representing the biggest burden are generally associated with the most research funding and innovation, discrepancies among key groups may reflect differential focus of funding across disease areas.

The full paper can be downloaded here.