FAST Initiative

What is FAST?
Fast Adoption of Significant Technologies

NEHI, MTC, and HTC have jointly established the FAST Initiative as a way to promote the adoption of promising, innovative technologies. Our goal is to create and test methods by which payers and providers can actively speed the uptake of selected innovations that are valuable to patients. The FAST Initiative will provide a vehicle for payers and providers to:

1. select from emerging technologies those with potential for improved patient outcomes and cost savings;
2. identify each selected technology’s  highest value applications (by patient groups, treatment settings, or appropriate organizational preparation and support);
3. define the barriers to adoption of the innovation in large populations; and
4. accelerate the pace of dissemination with those applications.

The FAST Initiative builds upon the technology forecasts and value analyses conducted by both NEHI and HTC.  FAST will draw upon the expertise and extensive collections of technology reviews of both NEHI and HTC to select the most promising innovations to be considered.

Which innovative technologies will be considered?

Most categories of innovative technologies for disease diagnosis, treatment, management, and monitoring will be considered.  The first round of reviews will include product applications that they have the potential to meet the following FAST criteria:

• there is low market penetration in high-value uses;
• they significantly improve patient outcomes and reduce overall costs of care;  
• there are barriers to broader dissemination that can be addressed;
• there are multiple products and manufacturers;
• the product can be produced and scaled up to a broader audience.

Who is participating?

Organizations on the FAST Steering Group include the following: HHS/ONCHIT, The Permanente Federation, WellPoint, Pacific Business Group on Health, Institute of Medicine, Center for Evidence-Based Policy, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, NEHI, and HTC.