A year of rapid reviews: evidence-based decision support for Austrian social insurances & hospitals

Abstract Background The Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment (AIHTA) has supported the decisions of Austrian social insurance funds and hospital providers with rapid reviews since 2023. This summary of rapid reviews aims to provide insights on findings, as well as experiences and challenges of conducting the rapid reviews after one year. Methods We included all rapid reviews that were requested to the AIHTA team in 2023. For research questions that were withdrawn, the reasoning was documented. The completed rapid reviews were grouped into medical specialties, depending on the intervention analysed. The conclusions of the rapid reviews were presented in tabular form, with the strength of the available evidence classified as high, moderate, low or insufficient. Results The rapid reviews on interventions (n = 9) cover a variety of medical specialties (orthopaedics, gynaecology, neurology, physical medicine, ophthalmology, vascular surgery and dermatology). In three rapid reviews, the analysed evidence on the intervention was insufficient for benefit (compared to standard of care). In four rapid reviews, the evidence indicated a potential benefit with some limitations (e.g. indication-specific results, or minimal clinically important difference not clearly achieved). In two rapid reviews, the evidence indicated a potential benefit. For three topics, no rapid review was conducted (topic scope too broad for rapid review, change in prioritisation). Challenges include time constraints, as well as narrowing the research questions to be suitable for rapid reviews. Conclusions The overview of rapid reviews highlights evidence-based findings on medical interventions. Further steps include collecting feedback from inquirers, on the extent to which the evidence from rapid reviews was used to support the decision-making. Rapid reviews are a feasible tool but require continuous evaluation and further adaptation of methods. Key messages • The rapid reviews to inform decision-making processes for Austrian social insurance funds and hospitals spanned multiple specialties and revealed varying levels of evidence. • To improve the implementation of rapid reviews, and to overcome challenges of time constraints and narrowing down research questions, feedback from stakeholders should be collected.