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About the job

The Agency for Care Effectiveness (ACE) is a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) entity within MOH. The role of ACE is to a) support national policy decision making through evidence-based assessments and appraisals; b) produce national Guidance on appropriate, clinical and cost-effective patient care; and c) design and deliver interventions to ensure maximum value for the system and patients.

As an Analyst/Specialist you will be responsible for a) conducting HTA or horizon scanning assessments by collating, analysing and synthesising qualitative and quantitative evidence; b) developing Guidance and other outputs informed by evidence-based decision-making; c) developing negotiation strategies to achieve fair prices for medical technologies prior to consideration for listing into the Implant Subsidy List (ISL); d) working with stakeholders, including clinical experts and senior staff to facilitate successful implementation of recommendations and Guidance; (e) horizon scanning for new and emerging health technologies on a regular basis, and monitoring these technologies for their regulatory and developmental status.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

Technical evaluation

• Critically appraise published evidence on the clinical and cost effectiveness of medical technologies, its potential budget impact and organisational feasibility

• Conduct systematic reviews, meta-analysis and economic evaluations (when required) to inform decision-making using standardised methods

• Assess the completeness of the evidence base, identifying gaps and highlighting important issues for discussion

• Liaise with clinical experts and other stakeholders to better understand local clinical management of specific conditions

• Prepare evaluation reports, guidance documents and other related products for internal and external dissemination

• Analyse market trends for health technologies and generate market forecasts for medical technologies using published reports, data, and statistics

• Manage market intelligence for emerging health technologies before their local regulatory approval or in the early stages of use in the Singapore healthcare system

• Develop strategies to inform negotiations with companies based on evidence submissions, pricing proposals, and market analyses

• Draft manuscripts for publication in select journals in collaboration with key clinical experts to increase visibility of ACE’s technical evaluations

Planning & organisation

• Participate in and assist with the coordination of key internal meetings such as scoping workshops, pricing negotiation meetings, committee meetings and meetings with senior management

• In conjunction with the Senior Lead Specialist, ensure adequate operational technical capacity and resourcing for each project

Implementation & evaluation of impact

• Work with other team within ACE, other MOH divisions, and other stakeholders to ensure successful implementation of guidance and subsidy

• Support efforts to evaluate the impact of ACE guidance in terms of clinical outcomes, system impact, and costs

• Manage databases related to technologies evaluated

Communication & engagement

• Preparing and presenting structured summaries of evidence and specialist advice to ACE’s committees to facilitate discussion on possible recommendations

• Maintain links with external academic, professional and clinical institutions to ensure current best practice

• Promote technical work of ACE internationally to increase the Agency’s visibility as a centre for technical excellence in HTA

• Draft written responses to comments and queries received from stakeholders

• Develop educational collaterals and communication pieces relevant to stakeholders’ needs

Training & development

• Undertake continuing personal and professional development to satisfy the required technical competencies for the role

• For Senior Specialist, supervise and mentor other more junior members of the team as needed

Commissioning & quality assurance

• Provide quality assurance for internal and externally commissioned projects conducted by team members (peer-review)

• Ensure consistency across documents produced in terms of format, content and acceptable quality

• Continually evaluate and evolve workflows to maximise efficiency

JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, pharmacy, life sciences or related fields (recent graduates welcome)

• Post graduate qualifications in genomics, public health, epidemiology, statistics or equivalent level of knowledge acquired through research experience and further training/development is desirable

• Understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare, critical appraisal and the interpretation and synthesis of health care research evidence

• Understanding of methodology to conduct clinical and cost-effectiveness analyses of health technologies, and produce HTA reports

• Working knowledge of all of the following areas and specialist knowledge in at least one of the following:

  • Genomics

  • Health economics

  • Medical statistics

  • Clinical trials

  • Public health

  • Health policy

  • Epidemiology

  • Systematic reviews

• Ability to gather, analyse, critique, synthesise and interpret complex information and prepare guidance documents, policy papers and briefing documents

• Experience and familiarity with databases, such as PubMed/Medline, Embase and Cochrane, and grey literature

• Familiarity with conducting internet searches of various websites including regulatory and HTA agencies, and manufacturer webpages

• Ability to anticipate the system-wide impact of recommendations to subsidise particular treatments including the impact on other hospital units, patients, and the society as a whole is desirable.

• Ability to write succinctly and translate complex technical information into plain English for different audiences

• A commitment to excellence in quality of research and outputs

• Effective organisational and time management skills with ability to prioritise work efficiently and effectively to meet deadlines

• Sensitivity to emerging technology trends and ability to conduct trend analysis to decipher the patterns of market movement

• Effective and persuasive communicator demonstrating oral, written and presentation skills with a high degree of personal credibility and sensitivity

• Ability to establish effective working relationships with a range of professionals both within and outside MOH

• Ability to think and plan strategically and to exercise sound judgement in the face of conflicting pressures

• A general understanding of the local health system and the social, political, economic and technical context within which MOH operates is desirable

• Experience working within an academic, clinical or health services research environment, or pharmaceutical or medical device company and supporting a multidisciplinary team is desirable.

• Ability to use standard Microsoft packages. Familiarity with specialist statistics and/or health economics software packages (e.g. TreeAge, STATA) is desirable

• For the Senior Specialist role, line management or mentoring experience of junior staff members is desirable.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified