C. Dissemination Plan

Dissemination should be designed to inform and influence behavior of the relevant decision makers, as appropriate. Although each HTA program should have certain standard dissemination protocols and success measures, this does not mean that dissemination plans should be the same for all HTAs. HTA programs should develop, continue to improve, and adapt their dissemination activities for particular HTAs. Dissemination planning should start at or before the initiation of each HTA. The costs, time, and other resources allocated for dissemination should be budgeted accordingly, yet should allow flexibility. As they emerge during the course of the HTA, the findings and recommendations themselves may affect target group selection, the types of messages to be delivered, and the media for delivering these messages.

There is growing recognition of the benefits of early involvement of HTA target groups in improving the design, conduct, and use of HTA reports. This includes gaining insights about overcoming scientific, professional, social, cultural, organizational, economic, and other barriers to acting on HTA findings and recommendations (Hivon 2005). For patients and consumers, this includes efforts to:

• Identify patient and consumer organizations that are stakeholders on particular HTA topics
• Acknowledge patients and consumers as target groups for HTA findings, where appropriate
• Determine ways in which such organizations could help to disseminate HTA findings
• Involve representatives of these groups during the HTA process where appropriate (e.g., to gain input on key questions, interventions, comparators, outcomes/endpoints of importance, concerns about access, review of draft reports)
• Engage these groups in HTA report dissemination strategies and implementation (Fattal 2008)

Chapter X has further discussion of the patient and consumer role in HTA, including matters related to dissemination. Although there is wider recognition of the need to improve HTA dissemination, much work is needed to augment the body of knowledge and methods for doing so. Perhaps because HTA originally focused on generating reports for policymakers, current efforts are addressing more active and adaptive dissemination to other stakeholders who use or are affected by HTA findings, such as hospital and other health care facility managers; clinicians; patient, consumer, and care-giver organizations; the general public; the health technology industry; researchers; and news organizations and other “vectors” of health information (Battista 2009; Lehoux 2005). This includes packaging HTA reports into more diverse products, conveying HTA findings in the contexts or decision-making environments of target groups; translations into target users’ languages, and adjusting clinical and technical terminology as needed (Lehoux 2004; Sobrido Prieto 2007).