2 The medical technologies evaluation programme

NICE process and methods

MTEP aims to:

promote faster uptake of new medical technologies in the health and social care system
encourage collaborative research (that is, both industry and the health and social care system) to generate evidence on the clinical utility or system benefits of selected technologies.

MTEP's main activities and responsibilities are:

identifying and selecting appropriate medical technologies that would benefit from national evaluation
routing these medical technologies to a NICE programme for evaluation
evaluating medical technologies routed to the committee, including:
- developing and publishing guidance, including recommendations for further research
- developing and publishing implementation tools
- reviewing and updating guidance as needed.

Medical technologies guidance is designed for several main audiences:

Practitioners, including clinicians, who use medical technologies in clinical or research settings.
NHS and social care commissioners (such as when specifying services incorporating use of medical technologies).
Healthcare operational and planning managers in primary and secondary care provider organisations, particularly when planning services or facilities in which medical technologies are used.
Purchasing and procurement organisations, when planning procurement of these products.
Patients and carers who may be affected by the technology.