Seattle Times Examines Washington State Panel That Reviews Medical Technologies

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 09 Jul 2008 - 10:00 PST

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The Seattle Times on Monday examined how "an obscure panel" of citizens in Washington state that reviews "potentially questionable medical technologies and decide[s] whether their track records and costs merit coverage by state agencies" has "turned Washington into a national trailblazer in embracing evidence-based medicine free of overt interference from political and economic interests."

The 11-member committee, called the Health Technology Assessment program, was established in 2006. Its members are chosen by the state for three-year terms. By law, the committee must include six physicians and five other health practitioners. "The committee acts, in effect, as unusually well-educated and informed patients who -- unlike most Americans -- must pay for their health care directly out of pocket," the Times reports. Health care outcomes are the No. 1 priority for the panel, but cost is considered when two competing technologies are similarly effective. According to the Times, "HTA's work has pitted doctors against doctors and resulted in the state's most open confrontation yet over which medical advances are worth the cost."

To date, HTA has ruled against covering three procedures: virtual colonoscopies, upright MRIs and discographies, a diagnostic test for back pain. They have approved -- with restrictions -- coverage of pediatric bariatric surgery and lumbar-fusion surgery for back pain, and five procedure reviews are pending. The rulings are binding for public workers and their families who are covered by the Uniform Medical Plan, as well as fee-for-service Medicaid beneficiaries and workers' compensation claimants. State officials also can adopt the decisions for veterans and prison inmates (Song, Seattle Times, 7/7).

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