HTA.de organizes workshop on the environmental impact of medical devices

During the 24th Annual Meeting of the Network for Evidence-Based Medicine (March 22-24, 2023 in Potsdam, Germany), HTA.de organized a workshop on the topic “Environmental Impact: a new dimension in the assessment of medical devices?“, in collaboration with the Network’s HTA Department.

Issues related to the environmental footprint of health systems are gaining importance in health policy discourse. Although the new definition of HTA includes the consideration of environmental aspects in the evaluation of medical technologies, there is a lack of sufficient concepts or proven methods to measure and operationalize this dimension. On the other hand, there is a need for differentiation, for example between the footprint of the use of individual technologies, such as medical devices, and aspects of the environmental footprint of healthcare facilities as a whole.

The workshop included four short presentations that served as the basis for discussion with participants. Matthias Perleth (Federal Joint Committee) presented the motivation and context for the workshop; Dimitra Panteli (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies / TU Berlin) summarized existing approaches to considering environmental aspects in HTA; Anne Spranger (BVMed Institute) presented the results of the comprehensive SEE Impact Study on the climate footprint of the MedTech industry in Germany; and Katharina Wabnitz (Centre for Planetary Health Policy) discussed how environmental aspects can be integrated into decision-making processes. The ensuing discussion, moderated by Matthias Perleth and Peter Kolominsky-Rabas, further showcased both the interest in the topic and the need for more discussion and exchange.

Workshop presentations