Evaluation and research

Medical Director: Elisabetta Anna Graps
Phone: 080 5403171
Email: e.graps@aress.regione.puglia.it

The Evaluation and Research Area (VAR, Area Valutazione e Ricerca) performs multidimensional and multidisciplinary health technology assessment functions preparatory to planning-management activities, promotes and evaluates health research, supports management experiments for the efficiency of the Regional Health Service and supports the governance of innovation. It contributes, therefore, to the structuring of service networks, the development of recommendations that are also useful for the development of PDTAs, the rationalization of spending and the better allocation of resources for drugs and medical devices.  

It is charged with monitoring emerging health technologies (Horizon Scanning), supporting procurement procedures on innovative technologies, promoting divestment/investment and prioritization techniques, and boosting policies (of appropriateness, pricing, etc.) to govern the adoption of technological innovation in clinical practice. The Evaluation and Research Area conducts projects related to the prevention of chronic degenerative diseases based on patient empowerment and digital use, promotion of self-assessment of health care settings through the use of tools developed and tested at the European level, promotion of hybrid models that support better patient care at home, etc.  

The focus on technological innovation, research, evaluation of the allocative appropriateness and effectiveness of new technologies to be included in care pathways that follow the main trajectories of the smart specialization of the health sector, attention to technologies and open innovation initiatives coming from the territory, lead the Evaluation and Research Area to work in synergy with the other Areas of the Agency, with Academia and Scientific Societies, with regional and extra-regional research organizations and institutions, with the Ministry of Health and the National Agency for Health Services also through participation in interregional tables.  

The Evaluation and Research Area is home to the Regional HTA Center (CReHTA), which coordinates the Pugliese HTA Network (RepuHTA) and manages, at the regional level, the National HTA Program for Medical Devices, including by introducing codified mechanisms of stakeholder involvement in the reporting and evaluation of health technologies. 

Evaluation and Innovation Governance Service 

Interim Manager: Elisabetta Anna Graps 
Phone: 080 5403171 
Email: e.graps@aress.regione.puglia.it

PTA Head: Federico Cangialosi
Phone: 080 5404235
Email: f.cangialosi@aress.regione.puglia.it

The Service "Evaluation and Governance of Innovation" is characterized as a simple Structure governed by a Medical Executive in view of the specificity of the subject matter that requires high and specific skills associated with technical-professional autonomy, making use of the close collaboration of a PTA Executive, who is entrusted with specific activities due to the peculiar professionalism 
The Service is responsible for the following activities: 

  • Research of evidence of effectiveness inherent in the use of innovative technologies also for the purpose of tariff policies; 
  • Identification of needs for investment in health technologies also for the purpose of effective use of European structural funds and research funds; 
  • Definition of criteria for allocative appropriateness in support of innovation and technological modernization, including digital modernization, of SSR services; 
  • Promotion of disinvestment/investment and prioritization techniques in health care, both in clinical practice and in the management of new technologies; 
  • Monitoring the level of obsolescence of the regional technology park, especially for large machines, aimed at developing replacement and renewal programs; 
  • Collaboration with the regional aggregator in particularly innovative technological areas; 
  • Interface with AA.SS.LL. and entities of the SSR for the facilitation, implementation and/or scale up on the regional territory of organizational - management models tested or borrowed from project experiences and for the promotion of knowledge transfer paths aimed at the replication and exchange of good practices in the health field; 
  • Promotion of activities inherent to the Regional Strategy for smart specialization in health, in liaison with Dept. of Health, Dept. of Economic Development, ARTI and facilitation of integration between research and innovation policies in the field of human health, with identification of areas of interest for investment in research and precommercial development; 
  • Promotion of initiatives that facilitate the connection between demand expressed by the SSR and research and experimental development capacity in health by territorial enterprises; 
  • Promotion and implementation in the territory of best practices aimed at the empowerment of citizens and patients, the promotion of skill mix change among professionals and on the use of digital for the dissemination of innovative and sustainable models of management of health systems and organizations; 
  • Assessment, design, collaboration on the development of digital technology solutions to support hybrid care to be integrated into care pathways; 
  • Membership in collaborative networks with national and international scientific societies, collaborative networks between regions, between university institutions and research centers to foster the dissemination and sedimentation in the regional health system of innovative practices tested and validated in cutting-edge settings; 
  • Evaluation of research projects pertaining to regional, national or international calls with particular reference to the verification of consistency with regional programmatic lines; 
  • Participation in national and international partnerships to promote processes of internationalization of the health sector and twinning/tutoring between health systems for the strengthening of specific skills, with training, research and development functions.

Health Research and Management Trials Service 

Manager: Rachele Giuliani 
Telephone: 080 5404241 
Email: r.giuliani@aress.regione.puglia.it

The 'Health Research and Management Experiments' Service, headed by a Health Executive with professional duties, oversees the following activities:  

  • Promotion of evidence-generating pathways of effectiveness and sustainability in areas of particular deficiency and planning of post-market clinical investigations of DM or other health technologies in the NHS facilities;  
  • Interface activities between researchers and practitioners of the SSR, Ethics Committees, Ministry of Health - Research Directorate, ISS, within the framework of Health Research activities undertaken by the SSR entities;  
  • Monitoring reports of the experimental use of a technology and interfacing with SSR professionals for the collection of outcomes;  
  • Evaluation of possible reclassification of product categories for the purpose of periodically updating the national classification of medical devices (CND) in liaison with the Ministry also for the purpose of drafting documents useful for tender procedures;  
  • Promotion of mechanisms for monitoring the research activities conducted by SSR entities Participation in national and international partnerships for the promotion of internationalisation processes in the health sector and twinning/tutoring between health systems for the strengthening of specific competences, with training, research and development functions;  
  • Experimentation with innovative and sustainable management tools and models for healthcare systems and organisations, also through the use of European project funds for the growth and innovation of the SSR.  

Regional HTA Centre (CReHTA) 

Interim Manager: Elisabetta Anna Graps
Telephone: 080 5403171
Email: hta@aress.regione.puglia.it

See the Regional Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Center section.