Integrating Environmental Aspects into Health Technology Assessment: A Qualitative Study among Dutch Stakeholders

Background The Dutch National Health Care Institute (ZIN) advises the Dutch Minister of Health on the basic benefit package using Health Technology Assessment (HTA), focusing on necessity, clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and feasibility. Despite the huge environmental impact of the healthcare sector, this impact is not taken into consideration. Several methodological approaches to integrate the environmental impact into HTA have been proposed, including information conduit, integrated evaluation, parallel evaluation, and environment-focused evaluation. There is significant uncertainty as to which approach is the most appropriate. Therefore, it is important to understand stakeholders’ perspectives on these approaches. Objectives To explore Dutch stakeholders’ perspectives on integrating environmental impacts into HTA and assess preferred methods and challenges. Methods A qualitative study using a focus group with members from ZIN (n = 7) and individual interviews (n = 7) with experts in HTA, market access, and reimbursement. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Results Stakeholders highlighted the importance of addressing environmental impacts such as pharmaceutical pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste. Integrated and parallel evaluations were preferred, but barriers such as data gaps, methodological complexity, and lack of guidelines were noted. Conclusion Incorporating environmental impacts into HTA is crucial but requires clear guidelines, better data, and stakeholder collaboration to support sustainable healthcare practices.