PatiMon Patient Monitoring Pu

Dr. Susanna Jonas
Austrian Academy of Science
Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA)
Health Technology Assessment
A-1030 Vienna

1. The Institute of Technology Assessment

The Institute of Technology Assessment ( ITA) performs inter-disciplinary scientific research at the interface of technology and society. Its work focuses on development trends, on societal consequences and on options for the shaping of technological change. The research results provide the basis for giving advice to decision-makers.

Technology assessment (TA) should develop insights into the societal consequences of new technologies in order to be able to shape the structural conditions for technological change. In concrete terms, societal benefit from technological progress should be maximised while avoiding negative impacts.

ITA investigates the applications of new technologies in their societal context. The analysis of technological and social conditions, of risks and opportunities provides the basis to develop technological and organisational design alternatives and regulatory options. To this end, it is important to seek systematic and interdisciplinary empirical verification and to put the results into a highly transparent form. In addition, a pre-condition for 's work is a considerable amount of basic research and an effort to detect fields of future problems as early as possible.

The results are processed into decision-related options. The reports are addressed to all those who are interested in the conditions and consequences of technological change. In particular, they aim at decision-makers involved in the shaping of this change. Many of ITA's projects for national and supra-national organisations highlight this function. Furthermore, international co-operation particularly within the European Union represent a significant part of ITA's work.

2. Organisational setup

The Institute of Technology Assessment ( ITA) is a research facility of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (AAS). It was founded in its present form on January 1st, 1994, based on its predecessor, the Technology Assessment Unit (TAU). At present, the Institute employs about a dozen scientific researchers. Their expert knowledge of economics, business management, sociology, political science, communications technology, telecommunications, molecular biology, medicine, genetics, chemistry, ecology and law is combined in the interdisciplinary field of technology assessment (TA). The core group is formed by teams of employees of the Institute, who are assisted when required by external experts.

The institute is supported by a scientific board that has been set up by the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

ITA is financed by the Austrian Academy of Sciences as well as by third parties (such as the Austrian Fund for Scientific Research FWF, different Austrian ministries, the Commission of the European Union etc.).

3. Research Areas

ICT Information and communication technologies	=>	Transformation processes within public administration, science and the service sector; usage and diffusion trends; virtual administration, electronic democracy; regulatory aspects of telecommunication and internet; IT security and privacy.
HTA Health Technology Assessment	=>	Efficacy and effectiveness of medical interventions and their economical, social, legal, ethical and organisational implications in fields like genetic diagnosis, drugs, new and expensive medical treatments.
BIOTECH Biotechnology	=>	Conditions for the approval and regulation of genetically modified organisms and products; comparative investigations of attitudes towwards biotechnology; biotech policies in Austria and Europe; analyses of societal conflicts over technology implementation.
ENVIRONMENT Environmental technologies	=>	Sustainability and environmental policy concepts with a focus on precaution and prevention; barriers and driving forces for the development and application of preventive environmental and sustainable technologies; determination of their feasibility and diffusion potential.
TA BASICS Basic principles and concepts	=>	Investigations into new methods partiuclarly in the field of participatory TA; monitoring of new approaches to TA; Technology Foresight. as the specialied TA institution in Austria, the ITA also has the function of a hub in the TA network: taking care of the TA data bank entries, editing a national TA newsletter, organising conferences etc.

4. Susanna Jonas, Dr.med.

Degree at the High Technical School for Biochemistry Vienna, studies in human medicine at the Vienna University (1988 MD). Postgraduate education in general and emergency medicine, postgraduate studies in tropical medicine, Assistant at the Institute for Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine at the Vienna University (1984-1989). Since January 2000 as a scientist at ITA (HTA Unit).

5. Publications

[ITA1] Jonas, S., Wild, C., Schamberger, C., 2003, "Screening" in speziellen Situationen: Prädiktive humangenetische Diagnostik bei hereditärem Mamma- und Kolorektalkarzinom". Zeitschrift für ärztliche Fortbildung und Qualitätssicherung, Schwerpunktheft Screening, zur Publikation angenommen

[ITA2] Jonas, S., Wild, C., Frank, W., Schmetterer, L., Sycha, T., 2002, Immunglobuline in der Transplantationsmedizin: Prävention und Therapie von Cytomegalievirus-Infektionen - ein Assessment. Transplantationsmedizin 2, 65-73

[ITA3] Jonas, S., 2002, Geburt umfassend betrachtet - Ansätze für ein Health Technology Assessment. Zeitschrift für ärztliche Fortbildung und Qualitätssicherung, Schwerpunktheft Geburtshilfe, zur Publikation angenommen

[ITA4] Wild, C., Jonas, S., 2001, Gesundheitspolitische Entscheidungen zwischen Rationierung und Rationalisierung - am Beispiel Erythropoietin bei Tumoranämie. In: Das Gesundheitswesen, 2001, 63, 221-225

As you know Health Technology Assessment is an instrument to support health policy decision makers – so it could be counterproductively for the economic progress.

Anyway my contribution could be in the field of socio-economic research, user acceptance, ethical requirements as well as privacy aspects of data management and gender aspects.

Technical description: collection and description of different selected methods, technical and organisational basics

Evaluation of accuracy (technical/diagnostic) of the instruments and evaluation of consequences (e.g. therapy, outcome) – based additional on a systematic literature research

Cost input in relation to patients, functional organisation and conventional methods