This report concludes the Health Equity Initiative by focusing on how communications and use of health technology assessment (HTA) must change to advance equitable, value-based care. It argues that HTA cannot promote equity unless its processes, findings, and limitations are communicated transparently and used in ways that patients, caregivers, and decision-makers can understand and apply. The report identifies four foundational changes: ensuring transparent, two-way communication throughout HTA; presenting findings in plain, accessible language; clearly discussing what is known and unknown about how technologies affect different patient groups; and embedding HTA within holistic, inclusive decision-making processes that meaningfully involve patients and caregivers. Through case studies and stakeholder-specific action guides, the report provides practical steps and accountability actions for researchers, journals, funders, and payers to make HTA more understandable, usable, and equity-centered, reinforcing the principle that there is no value without equity.
