Welcome To hOurHTA!
Our health systems are facing many challenges: disruptive technologies, integration of digital capabilities into healthcare, and environmental concerns such as energy consumption and waste.
We, as experts in health technology assessment, must understand these issues and find a way to develop approaches to address these challenges, so that we can help policy makers make informed choices about health technology regulation, reimbursement and disinvestment. That’s why we have created hOurHTA.
hOurHTA is an initiative of Professor Tracy Merlin of Adelaide Health Technology Assessment, University of Adelaide, who recognised the need for HTA professionals to be able to connect, learn from and share with each other in a virtual community of practice.
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What is hOurHTA?
hOurHTA is a community of practice for people working in, or wishing to work in, HTA. It centres around a webinar series. Quarterly hour-long webinars will be themed around topics of pressing and emerging interest and importance to HTA.
They will feature speakers with expertise and experience in these topics. There’ll be time for questions and discussion, and further discussion can be undertaken via our LinkedIn page.
We’ll also periodically feature students undertaking research in HTA, so that they can gain valuable experience presenting and receiving feedback from peers.
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Who is hOurHTA for?
hOurHTA is for Australians and New Zealanders who work in, want to work in, or are studying HTA in Australia and New Zealand. Membership is open to people in academia, government and industry, and we will feature speakers from each of these sectors throughout the series.
It’s free to join hOurHTA and webinars are also free.
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When will webinars be held?
Webinars will be held around lunchtime on a weekday -exact times will vary according to availability and location of speakers. If you register for a webinar, but then can’t make it, a recording can be made available (subject to presenter consent).
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Who's running hOurHTA?
A small group of enthusiasts from Adelaide Health Technology Assessment (AHTA) are organising hOurHTA. You can contact us via hOurHTA@adelaide.edu.au or find out more about AHTA here.
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How do I join?
We will have a simple form to join the hOurHTA mailing list that, once completed, ensures you are notified when new webinars are scheduled. Click the button below!
You will be invited to register for access to join each session closer to the date.
Upcoming webinar - 25 November, 12-1PM ACDT
'What does AI mean for HTA?'
As AI development continues apace, we now find two wonderful speakers to delve into what artificial intelligence (AI) might mean for HTA in the near future. Rebecca Trowman (HTAi Global Policy Forum Scientific Secretary) will report on the attitudes and needs expressed by HTA agencies and other stakeholders during HTAi’s Global Policy Forum on AI, held earlier this year. Professor Carolyn Semmler (University of Adelaide) will discuss her research on how humans interact with AI to try to make better decisions, granting us insights into which AI technologies are being used in health care, possible minimum evidence standards for AI deployment, and ethical considerations that should probably enter into HTAs of AI technologies. Together, they will delve into the what and why of AI in health care and discuss potential impacts for patients.
- Professor Carolyn Semmler is an internationally recognised cognitive scientist working on the safe and responsible translation and implementation of AI in high-risk settings, including health care. She is the Director of Human Cognition and Performance - School of Psychology, Research Lead - Healthy Societies Research Mission 5 (Emerging & Converging Technologies), Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, and Vice-President - Psychology Foundation of Australia. She is a member of the Medical Machine Learning Research group at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) where she supervises PhD students working in medical AI, and has led the national conversation on AI in health. This includes submissions to the Australian Senate and publications explaining the responsible use of AI in Health Care for Responsible AI in Australia (Australian Academy for Technological Sciences and Engineering). Her background in computational modelling of human behaviour in concert with complex automated systems – is a unique and essential component to the success of AI translation. She is a member of CANAIRI: the Collaboration for Translational Artificial Intelligence Trials in healthcare. She has led interdisciplinary research that integrates human factors with advanced machine learning technologies – with these outputs being published in the Lancet Digital Health and Nature Medicine. This collaboration has led to the development of innovative solutions that address complex challenges in healthcare.
- Rebecca Trowman has been working in the field of HTA for over 20 years. She comes from the UK, where she worked as a HTA assessor at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination in York and then as a technical adviser and consultant to NICE. She moved to Australia in 2011 and held roles within the WA State Department of Health conducting hospital-based HTA and at a research institute managing a programme of clinical trials. She has also worked at the Commonwealth Department of Health with the MSAC team and the Consumer Evidence and Engagement Unit. She is now studying for a PhD with AHTA and is the Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi) Global Policy Forum Scientific Secretary. The Forum topic in January 2025 was the use of AI in HTA activities.
Got an idea for a topic or speaker, or would you like to volunteer yourself as a speaker?
We’d love to hear from you! Please get in touch at hOurHTA@adelaide.edu.au
