Dennet, L., & Chojecki, D. Health Technology Assessment on the Net: A Guide to Internet Sources of Information (12th ed.). Institute of Health Economics. Calgary: AB. Retrieved from http://www.ihe.ca/publications/library/2011/HTA-on-the-net/.

“The foundation for any health technology assessment (HTA) is information. In fact, health technology assessment is the synthesis of many pieces of information from many different sources. The purpose of an HTA is to provide health care decision-makers with the evidence they need to make informed decisions concerning the introduction, allocation and cost-effective use of medical technologies.

Since its beginnings in the United States in the early 1970s, health technology assessment has expanded throughout the world. This growth has been accompanied by the development of many useful sources for HTA information. Some of these sources are produced by government and HTA agencies, while others are the products of centres involved in advancing evidence-based health care, such as the international Cochrane Collaboration.

The amount of information on Internet is of course overwhelming and there is the additional problem that information can be biased, out-of-date or low-quality. The key to efficient searching is to know where reliable and relevant information can most often be found.