CCOHTA Announces New Corporate Name
April 03, 2006
The Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) adopts new name and brand to reflect broader mandate
Ottawa – Beginning April 3, 2006, the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) will formally become known as the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH).
Considerable change and an expanded mandate within CCOHTA over the past number of years prompted the organization’s decision to rename and rebrand. In 2003, the organization began delivering the Common Drug Review (CDR), which provides participating drug plans with rigorous clinical and economic reviews of new drugs and an evidence-based recommendation about whether a drug should be provided as a benefit. COMPUS, the Canadian Optimal Medication Prescribing and Utilization Service, was added in 2004 to promote best practices in drug prescribing and use. In 2005, through the approval of Canada’s Health Technology Strategy (HTS 1.0), an expanded role related to advancing health technology policy assessment was spelled out for CADTH.
“Becoming the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health better reflects the breadth of services we are providing to Canadian health care decision makers. We have come a long way since we began in 1989 when our focus was strictly related to evidence-based information on emerging and existing medical devices,” said Dr. Jill M. Sanders, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). “With steady progress and positive change focussed on meeting the ever-growing need for impartial evidence-based information on drugs, devices and health systems, we have successfully positioned ourselves to meet both present demand and to address the challenges in the years ahead.”
More detailed information about the range of services offered by CADTH can be found on the organization’s new Web site at www.cadth.ca.
For additional information, contact:
Kirk Fergusson
Director, Communications
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
613.226.2553, ext 276