Towards updating Israel's 'basket' of health services in 2012

The process of updating the “basket” of health services in Israel essentially involves choosing between drugs/technologies that are not alternatives, but which are candidates for the annual global extra funding pre-allocated for this purpose, according to the latest issue of the Israel Drug Bulletin edited by Philip Sax.

This means, for instance, choosing between (yet) another drug for type 2 diabetes or extending the indication for a drug already in the basket for heart disease or choosing an improved version of a medical device or procedure. This approach at the national level is unique in the area of health technology assessment and decision-making, writes Dr Sax. All countries today have to make hard decisions regarding resource allocation somewhere in their health systems but no country has followed the path taken by Israel since 1998.