Running a healthcare system under economic pressure without rationalised decisions is impossible and HTA provides good (rational) arguments for or against investments in health care. Providing good value for money under limited resources is the guiding principle of HTA.

The HTA-Strategy for Lithuania was formulated based on a thorough analysis of the Lithuanian health care system ("Background Analysis for National HTA Strategy for Lithuania - Focus on Medical Devices": http://eprints.hta.lbg.ac.at/1063). It aims to boost the use of HTA-information in Lithuania. Its goals are to support the establishment of both a framework to promote, enforce and facilitate the uptake of HTA and of the necessary organisational structures for the timely, efficient and good-quality provision of HTA-information. Recommendations and short/medium/long term suggestions for implementation activities are presented for four strategic objectives: regulatory embedding and ensuring legitimacy of HTA; organisation of HTA; quality assurance of HTA; capacity building for HTA.

A change of culture (in decision making) takes time. The ultimate key for success of the HTA-Strategy for Lithuania will be for its health sector stakeholders to increasingly take ownership of the HTA process. In the meantime the HTA-Strategy for Lithuania proposes that raising awareness for HTA works best by successfully realising "flagship projects" that increase the quality of patient services, decrease inappropriate or even harmful interventions or create savings that can be reinvested for other services. Eventually, transparent, reliable and replicable HTAs will develop their own convincing language and begin to speak for themselves.