NICE DSU Technical Support Document 13: Identifying and Reviewing Evidence to Inform the Conceptualisation and Population of Cost-Effectiveness Models [Internet].

This Technical Support Document (TSD) is concerned with methods for identifying and reviewing evidence to inform models developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of health technologies, in particular model parameter estimates, in the NICE Technology Appraisal Process. The NICE Guide to the Methods of Appraisal states that for parameters relating to treatment effects a full systematic review is required, and that the process of assembling evidence for all parameters needs to be systematic, transparent and justifiable. Evidence must be identified, quality assessed and, when appropriate, pooled using explicit criteria and justifiable and reproducible methods. The Methods Guide goes on to state that evidence will typically be drawn from a number of different sources. These sources might include cohort studies for parameters relating to the natural history of the condition, randomised controlled trials for relative treatment effects, and cross-sectional surveys for resource use and costs. Methodological standards for reviewing the broad range of relevant evidence in the context of model development do not currently exist. The processes through which evidence is identified and selected remain largely unreported with the result that the process of using evidence within models lacks transparency. Guidance is needed regarding approaches for reviewing of evidence to inform the model development process and for informing parameter values in cost-effectiveness models.

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