To facilitate implementation of new health technology assessment (HTA) methods, it is crucial to engage stakeholders. A technically good system may be brought to its knees if the intended users are not willing or able to use it. Therefore, based on these considerations, we aimed to identify relevant aspects of change models and investigated four potentially useful change models in the context of HTA. The four models were: adaptive space; midstream modulation; developmental evaluation; and knowledge brokering.

A narrative literature review was conducted to gather information into a readable and usable format. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for relevant literature on change management and stakeholder engagement within HTA. Additionally, grey literature was selected after consulting an implementation specialist to gather more information on the background of the change management models.

Several enabling factors for successful stakeholder engagement were found, including attention to branding of the coproduction, facilitation/personal safety, and data or indicators to inform activities. Four change methods were described from the enabling factors identified. There was no “perfect model” for our aim, but all models involved relevant aspects to engage stakeholders. Notably, all models paid attention to the project management factor, whereas none of the models paid explicit attention to the branding of the coproduction factor.

Change management is a complex and elaborate field in which many factors play a role. Stakeholder engagement is a factor that might be influenced by project leaders within international projects such as the European Union's Next Generation Health Technology Assessment (HTx). To improve stakeholder engagement in modernizing HTA, it is important to keep paying attention to project management, relationships, and how to facilitate fora and meetings to improve mutual understanding. Two factors to pay more attention to are branding of the coproduction and consideration of formal structures.