Health Technology Assessment plays an important supporting role in health policy decisions at different levels of decision making by producing assessments of clinical, economic, ethical, legal and organizational issues related to the adoption of technologies. The Laboratory of HTA SIFO conducted a survey to assess the level of knowledge, development and use of HTA in the NHS structures. An electronic questionnaire was sent to all members (2,997) of the Italian Society of Hospital Pharmacists and the Hospital Pharmaceutical Services to gather information on the knowledge and the development of HTA in the contexts in which they operate as well as on the degree of participation in training activities. A descriptive analysis of the collected data was executed. The collected questionnaires were 277. Results revealed that the respondents were mainly hospital pharmacists, a small proportion was represented by local pharmacists and just over 10% were interns, trainees, staff pharmacists, pharmaceutical representatives, and quality managers.
It was found that HTA activities are led, mainly, by the Medical Director of the structure, less frequently by the General Manager or by a pharmacist. The multidisciplinary group, involved in the assessment of technologies through the HTA approach is, on average, consisting on up to 5 people and its composition varies among structures. The analyzed HTA dimensions are mainly efficacy, safety and costs. Just in few cases the procedure that regulates the assessment process appears to be formalized. Results showed that training activities in support of knowledge and implementation of HTA methods are lacking, in fact, very few respondents stated that such training exists, others claimed to provide on their own. The survey proves that it is necessary to train professionals implementing their knowledge on the assessment of technologies and on the approach of HTA.

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Key words: HTA Hospital Pharmacist, questionnaire, analysis, survey