Vienna, Austria
Ao. Univ.- Prof. Dr. Herwig Ostermann, Director, GOeG
History and Structure
The Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GOeG) is Austria’s National Public Health Institute. It is owned by the Federal State of Austria which in turn is represented by the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection. GOeG is independent in its scientific work.
GOeG (Gesundheit Österreich GmbH) was set up in its current form by federal law on August 1st 2006. Three units are integrated in GOeG:
- OeBIG (Österreichisches Bundesinstitut für Gesundheitswesen – Austrian Health Institute: The OeBIG was established in 1973 to govern and promote the Austrian health care system. It has been providing scientific services by means of research, consultancy, policy advice, evaluation, education, and training.
- FGOe (Fonds Gesundes Österreich – Austrian Health Promotion Foundation): The FGOe was established in 1992 with the goal of strengthening the role of health promotion and prevention in Austria. It finances eligible prevention und health promotion projects, and it performs its own activities in the field of prevention and health care.
- BIQG (Bundesinstitut für Qualität im Gesundheitswesen – Austrian Institute for Quality Assurance in Health Care): The BIQG was established in 2007 to evaluate, ensure and further develop the quality of Austrian health care services.
GOeG has a permanent staff of about 200 persons, the expertise of GOeG is multidisciplinary, i.e. economists, physicians, psychologists, biologists, statisticians, regional planners, public health experts…
Mission
One goal to be pursued further of GOeG in the field of HTA is supporting the implementation and further institutionalization of HTA in the Austrian Health Care System. As we have a decentralized Health Care System, a nationwide coordination and establishment of further necessary structures and (quality) standards for HTA processes and methods as well as regular information exchange are important. In addition, we provide on request of contracting authorities or in the context of tenders HTA-reports, systematic reviews, rapid reviews, economic evaluations and budget impact analysis. We also support our colleagues internally at GOeG.
How GÖG works
Since 2008 assessment reports, rapid reviews, short inquiries, economic evaluations are requested from the Ministry. In addition we are also conduction HTA –reportss and systematic reviews for other Austrian stakeholders and German HTA-institutions like IQWiG. Since the beginning we are partners in EUnetHTA Joint Actions.
We have developed a HTA-process-manual, were quality standards like peer review process (experts for the particular topic) are specified. To ensure nationwide quality standards we developed – in cooperation with the main Austrian HTA-institutions – the “HTA-method-manual”.
Dissemination Activities
After an external/internal review process all reports are published in full on the GOeG website and can be downloaded free of charge. Additionally, regularly mailings are done via the GOeG-Newsletter and the Newsletter of the Ministry. Project results are also presented at international conferences and in journals.
Current Projects (A Selection):
- Study on impact analysis of Policy Options for strengthened EU cooperation on Health Technology Assessment (HTA Impact) commissioned by the European Commission
- HTA-Report: Cancer – Can accompanying music therapy contribute to better treatment results? commissioned by IQWiG
- EUnetHTA Joint Action 3 cooperation:
- Joint HTA-production:
a) Relative effectiveness assessment of Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery compared to standard cataract surgery(second author);
b) Stool DNA testing (e.g. ColoAlert, ColoGuard) for colorectal cancer early detection (first author) - Implementation lead for Austria, Germany and Switzerland to increase use of EUnetHTA products (identify barriers and success factors)
- Joint HTA-production:
- Supporting the Ministry in implementing the measles and rubella action plan (evidence) and developing polio response plan
- Development and further enlargement of the drug safety information platform for physicians; previous focus on polypharmacy and paediatric medicines https://www.gesundheit.gv.at/gesundheitssystem/professional/arzneimittelsicherheit/inhalt
Future Plans
- Cooperation in European Projects on Cooperation in the framework of European projects in the framework of consortia:
- Topic elderly care:
To provide tools and insights that will allow elderly citizens to maintain and improve their independence, functional capacity, and health status as well as preserving their physical, cognitive, mental and social well‐being through a combination of eight radically new coaching system services (piggy back HTA). - Topic HTA-methods for eHealth:
The Development of a European HTA framework for assessment of eHealth services to support evidence based health care
- Topic elderly care:
- Conducting an economic analysis for the potential introduction of colorectal cancer screening
- Supporting quality standards with HTA methods
Agency Information
Country: Austria
Description of population served: National
Population served (mil): 8.8
Current HTA budget (mil USD): 0.80
Permanent staff: 6 (HTA/EBM); GÖG overall 200
Consultants: 0
Ongoing TA projects: 12
Contact Information
Director: Ao. Univ.- Prof. Dr. Herwig Ostermann
Contact person: Heidi Stürzlinger
Gesundheit Österreich GmbH
Stubenring 6
A-1010 Vienna Austria
Tel: +43 1 515 61-159
Fax: +43 1 513 84 72
Internet: http://www.goeg.at
Email: ingrid.rosian@goeg.at