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Health Technology Assessment

What is a health technology assessment (HTA)?

A Health Technology Assessment (HAS) is a systematic evaluation of the properties and effects of a health technology. It aims to address the direct and intended effects of this technology, as well as its indirect and unintended consequences, which is mainly at informing decision making regarding health technologies.

Key questions in a HTA

  1. Does the intervention work?
  2. For whom?
  3. At what cost?
  4. How does it compare with the alternative?

HTA products

  • Rapid reviews
  • Budget impact analysis
  • Systematic reviews
  • Economic evaluation
  • Horizon scanning reports
  • Health services development programme (HSDP) submissions

What do we do?

HSR performs HTAs to support decision-making in three main areas: clinical service planning, programme development, and the Medical Device Oversight Committee (MDOC).


Area What We Do​ Examples of Past Reviews​
​Clinical service planning
  • ​Conduct rapid reviews for selected proposals submitted to the annual CGH Marketplace exercise
    • Review strengthened decision making process within CGH senior management in their prioritization of proposals
  • Conduct rapid reviews for CGH senior management
    • Allow them to evaluate evaluate the quality of new programs using an evidence-based framework for onward submission to MOH for further review for funding
  • New sustainable model of care for chronic non-invasive ventilation to enhance patient care access, care quality, and health outcomes
  • Neoveil polyglycolic acid mesh for pancreatic surgery
  • Measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on hospital services 3D HD flex tip laparoscopic system for abdominal surgery
  • AirSeal valveless trocar system for advanced laparoscopic/robotic surgery
  • Emergency department-initiated extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
  • High-intensity focused ultrasound for benign fibroadenomas and benign thyroid nodules
  • Intraoperative contrast enhanced ultrasound
  • Integrated spinal surgery service with computer-guided, minimally invasive capability
  • Integrated rehabilitation service for arthroscopic knee and shoulder surgery
  • Rotational endarterectomy for coronary artery disease in patients with complex lesions of the coronary arteries
​Programme Development
  • ​Conduct independent assessment of the evidence of programmers to be submitted by CGH staff, and assist programme directors to establish an evaluation framework for the clinical programme
    • Support the Ministry of Health, Health Services Development Programme (MOH, HSDP), a competitive grant funding process, for the introduction and piloting of new technologies or services by the public healthcare institutions
​MDOC
  • ​Conduct rapid reviews for decision making and the development of process and clinical outcomes to evaluate the performance of devices
    • Support MDOC

Selected HTA-related first author publications

Pwee KH, Chow WL (2016) Hospital-Based HTA in a Public-Sector Tertiary Hospital in Singapore. In: Sampietro-Colom L, Martin J(eds) Hospital-Based Health Technology Assessment: The Next Frontier for Health Technology Assessment. Adis, Cham

Pwee KH. Health technology assessment in Singapore. Int J Technol Assess Health Care 2009;25 Suppl 1:234-40.

Pwee KH. Multislice/spiral computed tomography for screening for coronary artery disease. Issues Emerg Health Technol. 2003 Feb;(43):1-4.

Pwee KH, Shukla VK, Herrmann N, Skidmore B, Novel antipsychotics for agitation in dementia: a systematic review. Ottawa: Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment; 2003. Technology report no. 36.