Table.

Stages in handling of new technologies

Stage	Purpose	Examples
Primary research	To support licensing and marketing decisions	Trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies
		Research (often case series) sponsored by other manufacturers
Brief report by an NHS agency or independent agent	To give early advice on use of technology	National Prescribing Centre bulletin
		HTA programme briefings or vignettes5
		Editorials in medical journals
		Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin reports9
Rapid and rigorous systematic review	To support timely guidance and guidelines (for example, from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence)	Development and Evaluation Systems reports
		Assessments externally commissioned by NICE
Longer term systematic review	To bring together all high quality evidence about effects, costs, and broader impact of technology	Products of Cochrane Collaboration
		Reviews commissioned by NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme
Pragmatic randomised controlled trial	To provide more definitive answers to the question: “For whom does it work, and is it worth it in practice?”	Occasionally funded by NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme, by other research and development programmes, by the Medical Research Council