The early experiences of a national system for the identification and assessment of emerging health care technologies in Sweden

This article presents the experiences from a pilot study and the establishm ent of a permanent system called SBU Alert. The question of establishing a system for the identification and assessment of emerging technologies in he alth care in Sweden has been on the agenda since the late 1980s. The demand came primarily from policy makers. The pilot study showed that the awarene ss of the project in the target group (politicians, leading managers, hospi tal directors, and senior medical advisors) was high. Almost all of those w ho replied to an assessment questionnaire were in favor of a continuation o f the work In 1997, the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) was selected to establish a permanent organization. This work ha s resulted in the identification of a number of methodological problems and tentative solutions concerning all components in the SBU Alert system, We have found that a system for systematic identification and early assessment of emerging technologies is a new and promising tool in the health technol ogy assessment arsenal. Still, experiences are limited. Methodology and the impact of early judgments on decision making need further evaluation.