Early warning of new health care technologies in the United Kingdom

In this paper we describe the present range of organizations that have a ro le in the early warning of new and emerging health care technologies in the United Kingdom. We discuss in more detail the processes and prioritization criteria used by the U.K. horizon-scanning project for the NHS Health Tech nology Assessment Programme, and the principal methods of technology identi fication for the horizon-scanning project are outlined. The United Kingdom plans to develop an integrated system for the identification of technologie s for commercial planning, health service research prioritization, financia l planning, and provision of information to policy makers, purchasers, and providers of health care.