With the announcement of the health technology assessment (HTA) review in Australia, a HTA Summit was organized by ISPOR Australia in November 2022. The aim of the Summit was to provide a forum for industry, academia, and patients to share ideas and find common ground with respect to HTA policy, processes, and methods. Topics were determined by a Steering Committee and included: managing uncertainty; patient engagement; second order effects; genetics, genomics and precision medicines; conditional listing; and real-world evidence. Presentations on each topic were conducted by industry and non-industry experts. Breakout sessions led by facilitators were also held for each topic with members of the audience.

Discussions were recorded during the event and a thematic analysis was performed.

The following themes were identified from the event.

• • There was a strong sentiment that participants enjoyed the opportunity to discuss ideas and work toward solutions.

• • There was a consistent theme that many of the issues arising in HTA were due to a lack of communication between sponsors, evaluators, patients, and decision makers.

• • It was noted that HTA encompasses several technical terms that have different meanings among various stakeholders.

• • There was a clear consensus that patients should be involved in HTA earlier and throughout the process.

• • HTA reform can help drive better access to real-world evidence.

• • To improve the efficiency of the process, uncertainty could be reframed as risk management, which incorporates the effect of uncertainty in the funding decision.

• • HTA includes policies, processes, and methods and is used as a tool by decision makers to make informed funding decisions. It was noted on several occasions during the Summit that funding decisions have a political element that should be separated from the HTA process.

It is possible to achieve better collaboration between industry, academic, and patient groups with respect to HTA reform. To promote more collaborative work a consistent conflict of interest definition would be helpful.