Expediting Patient Access to New Health Technologies: Role of Disease-Specific Reference Models

In countries with a healthcare system mostly financed by public sources (such as Australia and the United Kingdom), timely patient access to new effective health technologies (eg, medical services, medicines) is one of their central objectives.1,2 Expediting access to innovative technologies can lead to improvements in health outcomes and can drive continued innovation in the health system. There are likely to be multiple factors influencing delays in patient access to new health technologies such as the efficiency of the health technology assessment (HTA) review processes (including multiple layers of decision making), criteria to inform funding decisions (including lack of clarity in HTA evidence requirements), and budget constraints.3