One of the instruments Mexico has available for the optimization of resources specifically allocated to health technologies is the Health Care Formulary and Supply Catalog (Cuadro Básico y Catálogo de Insumos del Sector Salud [CBCISS]). The aim of the CBCISS is to collaborate in the optimization of public resources through the use of technologies (supplies) that have proven their safety, therapeutic efficacy, and efficiency. The importance of the CBCISS lies in the fact that all public institutions within the National Health System must use only the established technologies it contains. The implementation of strategies that strengthen the CBCISS update process allows it to be thought of as an essential regulatory tool for the introduction of health technologies, with relevant contributions to the proper selection of cost-effective interventions. It ensures that each supply included on the list meets the criteria sufficient and necessary to ensure efficacy, safety, effectiveness, and, of course, efficiency, as evidence supporting the selection of suitable technologies. The General Health Council (Consejo de Salubridad General [CSG]) is a collegial body of constitutional origin that-in accordance with its authority-prepares, updates, publishes, and distributes the CBCISS. To perform these activities, the CSG has the CBCISS Inter-institutional Commission. The CBCISS update is performed through the processes of inclusion, modification, and exclusion of supplies approved by the Interior Commission. The CBCISS update process consists of three stages: the first stage involves a test that leads to the acceptance or inadmissibility of the requests, and the other two focus on an in-depth evaluation for the ruling. This article describes the experience of health technology assessment in Mexico, presents the achievements and outlines the improvements in the process of submission of new health technologies, and presents a preliminary analysis of the submissions evaluated until December 2012. During the analysis period, 394 submissions were received. After confirming compliance with the requirements, 59.9% of the submissions passed to the next stage of the process, technology assessment. In the third stage, the committee approved 44.9% of the submissions evaluated. The improvements established in the country in terms of health technology assessment allowed choosing the technologies that give more value for money in a context of public health institutions.

The strengthening of the process was conducted with methodological rigor based on critical analysis of scientific evidence, with transparency and legitimacy under a legal framework to promote resource optimization. The highest percentage of requests was for drugs which are the most commonly used therapeutic technology; for this reason it requires a proper selection process to ensure greater health benefit that ensures efficient use of economic resources. The economic evaluation was a support tool to consider in addition to price, the value of health determined by the quality of evidence, establishing a GDP per capita as a threshold to define a drug as an efficient alternative.