Reducing uncertainty

to drive growth

About Health Technology Access

Health Technology Access is a market access company specialising in health economic evaluation.  The General Manager of Health Technology Access is Dr Steven Fearn.  On most occasions, you will be dealing directly with Steven.  Steven has served on NICE’s Topic Selection Panel for Vascular & Metabolic Conditions (Coronary Artery Disease, Peripheral Arterial Disease, diabetes & renal disease), NICE’s Medical Technology Advisory Committee & NICE’s Task & Finish Group for handling uncertainty as part of the Methods Review.  Steven was also a member of the Health Technology Wales Industry Reference Group and was Vice Chair of the Association of British Healthtech Industry’s Market Access Policy Group.

Steven has experience of drug-eluting coronary stents (led a company through a NICE Technology Appraisal), PCI, diagnostic coronary catheterisation, interventional radiology, vascular surgery, cardiac surgery, cardiac resynchronisation therapy, implantable defibrillators, pacemakers, patent foramen ovale closure, left atrial appendage occlusion, mitral valve repair, mitral valve replacement, aortic valve replacement (called TAVI in the UK and TAVR in the USA), cardiac electrophysiology, heart failure and neuromodulation.

Steven has over 36 years of experience in the medical device industry, including over 26 years of market access experience.  Steven also has experience in the operation of the NHS, commissioning systems, NHS-related institutions (eg NICE), political engagement, clinical coding, payment system, writing business cases, the conduct of clinical trials in the UK and the use of NHS administrative data to understand activity.  Steven is named as an author on several publications that relate to near infrared spectroscopy (a medical technology), bare metal coronary stents, percutaneous direct myocardial laser revascularisation (a medical technology), peripheral arterial disease, drug-eluting coronary stents and cardiac resynchronisation therapy.

Health Technology Access can perform probabilistic analysis (a way of handling uncertainty), which is preferred by assessors of economic value.  Cardiovascular devices are a particular area of expertise.

Services

  • Conduct a telephone or online consultation

  • Determine if there is an existing procedural or diagnostic code that can be used

  • List names, geography and priorities of Integrated Care Systems (ICS)

  • Develop a summary of the health service in England

  • Develop a summary of NICE guidance processes

  • Conduct an evidence assessment to determine if an economic analysis is feasible

  • Develop an economic model for internal use to determine what might be concluded by assessors

  • Develop an early value (economic) assessment of a product

  • Write a strategy for market access

  • Write NICE assessment submissions

  • Collect comments and write consultation response on draft NICE Guidance

  • Take a product through the NICE Guidance or Clinical Evidence Summary processes

  • Develop an economic model

  • Write a business case

Case Studies

Publications and Presentations

Claridge S, Sebag FA, Fearn S, Behar JM, Porter B, Jackson T, Sieniewicz B, Gould J, Webb J, Chen Z, O’Neill M, Gill J, Leclercq C, Rinaldi CA (2018). Cost-effectiveness of a risk-stratified approach to cardiac resynchronisation therapy defibrillators (high versus low) at the time of generator change. Heart 104(5):416-422.

 

Behar JM, Chin HMS, Fearn S, Ormerod JOM, Gamble J, Foley PWX, Bostock J, Claridge S, Jackson T, Sohal M, Antoniadis AP, Razavi R, Betts TR, Herring N, Rinaldi CA, (2017).  Cost-effectiveness analysis of quadripolar versus bipolar left ventricular leads for cardiac resynchronization defibrillator therapy in a large, multicentre UK registry.  J Am Coll Cardiol: Clinical Electrophysiology 3(2):107-16.

 

Chalmers N, Walker PT, Belli A-M, Thorpe AP, Sidhu PS, Robinson G, van Ransbeeck M, Fearn SA (2013).  A randomised trial of the SMART™ stent versus balloon angioplasty in long, superficial femoral artery lesions: the SUPER study.  Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology 36(2):353-61.  Note: this paper won the 2013 annual CVIR Editor’s Medal award.

 

Firth BG, Cooper LM, Fearn S (2008).  The appropriate role of cost-effectiveness in determining device coverage: a case study of drug-eluting stents.  Health Affairs 27(6): 1577–1586.

 

Gershlick AH, Fearn S (2008).  Drug-eluting stents – are they worth the money?  Eurointervention 4 (Suppl C): C75-C79.

 

Hawkins N, Sculpher MJ, Fearn S (2005).  Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of drug-eluting coronary stents: the results of a Bayesian evidence synthesis and decision model.  Poster presentation at Society of Medical Decision Making, October 2005.

 

Fearn S, Henderson I, Ireland M, Gaines P, Cleveland T (2000).  How much papaverine is needed to induce maximal hyperaemia in the lower limb? Oral presentation, BSIR, November 2000.

 

Blows L, Fearn S, Simpson IA, Dawkins KD (2000).  Biosense-guided left ventricular mapping and percutaneous direct myocardial laser revascularisation; first UK experience.  Heart 83: 86.

 

Ahmed JM, Salame MY, Fearn S, Anthonies S, Wales C, Silverton PN, Zezulka AV, Siegel RJ, Cumberland DC (1999).  Proximal reference vessel undergoes more plaque progression then distal reference vessel after coronary stenting; one-year serial intracoronary ultrasound follow up.  JACC 33 (Suppl); 75A: 1159.

 

Ahmed JM, Salame MY, Fearn S, Anthonies S, Wales C, Silverton PN, Zezulka AV, Siegel RJ, Cumberland DC (1998).  Serial ultrasound plaque evaluation after plain old balloon angioplasty (Super-POBA).  Circulation 98 (Suppl); I-512: 2690.

 

Muthusamy TS, Kearney MT, Lindsay HS, Fearn SA and Sivananthan UM (1998).  High pressure inflation is necessary for optimal deployment of the Arterial Vascular Engineering GFX intracoronary stent: evidence from a quantitative intravascular ultrasound study.  Eur Heart J 19 (Suppl); P2847: 504.

 

Hinckley KA, Fearn SA, Howard BR and Henderson IW (1996).  Glyceryl trinitrate enhances nitric oxide mediated perfusion within the equine hoof.  Journal of Endocrinology 151: R1-R8.

 

Hinckley KA, Fearn SA, Howard BR and Henderson IW (1996).  Nitric oxide donors as treatment for grass induced acute laminitis in ponies.  Equine Veterinary Journal 28 (1): 17-28.

 

Hinckley KA, Fearn SA, Howard BR and Henderson IW (1995).  Near infrared spectroscopy of pedal haemodynamics and oxygenation in normal and laminitic horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 27 (6):465-470.

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