Health technology assessment (HTA) is a resource-intensive decision support tool that is typically structured around a set of defined domains. Sometimes urgent requests for HTAs arise that may be subject to very short timeframes, creating unique challenges. This study aimed to describe some of the options for carrying out a “hasty HTA”, and the impact of those options.

We recently completed a HTA for the Department of Health in Ireland with a strict 2-month deadline. We considered the impact of the short timeline using the project management triple constraint framework whereby the quality of a project is constrained by cost, scope, and schedule.

When delivering HTAs within short timeframes the schedule is an inflexible constraint. Providing interim advice pending a full assessment may set a precedent, or may not be possible if capital expenditure is already entailed. Additional staff should enable research to be completed faster, although economies of scale may not fully apply. Frequently such resources are not readily available. The reduction of scope through the omission of domains offers the best prospect of facilitating a short timeframe for a HTA. Scope may also be reduced through a less comprehensive analytical approach, but this creates a risk of reduced accuracy. Curtailing data collection and analysis is likely to increase uncertainty in the findings. Risk management is important when comprehensive quality assurance may not be possible.

Carrying out HTAs in short timeframes has implications for content, approach, and, potentially, quality. Agencies must consider how they can meet the needs of the decision maker without overly compromising accuracy or relevance. Due to resource constraints, the best approach is likely to be judicious changes to the scope to remove assessment elements that are unlikely to have a substantive impact on the decision.