Osteba, Basque Office for Health Technology Assessment was established in autumn 1992. It aims to promote the appropriate use of health technologies in terms of safety, effectiveness, accessibility and equity, providing necessary information for decision-making.

Osteba has made a great effort to optimize the methods of work, both for literature searches and critical reading of the different study designs, economic evaluation, identification and evaluation of emerging and obsolete technologies, making recommendations and elaborating Clinical Practice Guidelines.

Osteba is a member of the Spanish Network of Agencies for Assessing National Health System Technologies (RedETS)  an Performance. This network brings together assessment agencies and units from both the central government and the Autonomous Communities, working in a coordinated manner under a shared methodology and guided by the principles of mutual recognition an cooperation. In addition, Osteba is part of GuiaSalud, an NHS initiative, as a developer of Clinical Practices Guidelines (CPGs),  involving all 17 Autonomous Commnities and the Ministry of Health.

Osteba is a founding member of the International Network o Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) and the international network of clinical practice guidelines - (GIN). It is also founder member and participates in the iHTS, International Information Network on new or emerging, appropriate use and re-assessment needed  Health Technologies, (before called Euroscan).

Osteba participed in the joint actions of EUnetHTA (European network for Health Technology Assessment), whose scientific contributions, such as methodological and guidance dcocuments, have been taken into account in the development an implementation of Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2021 on health technology assessment.