The National Center for Health Technology Excellence (CENETEC) is a Minister of Health agency, which main purpose is to produce objective, reliable and timely information related to Health Technologies. CENETEC is organized in four main programs: Biomedical Engineering (BE); Health Technology Assessment, Clinical Practice Guidelines and eHealth.

CENETEC considers the Healthcare Technologies definition provided in the World Health Organization Assembly Resolution WHA60.29:

"The application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures and systems, developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives".

Healthcare technologies incorporation in the National Healthcare System (NHS) represents important technical, economic and social challenges. To address them, the Mexican Ministry of Health created CENETEC -January 2004- in response to the need for objective information on appropriate health technology use, management and assessment, for decision and policy makers. The final goal is to increase quality and safety of health services and to have a better allocation of appropriate resources according to the population health.

Mission
Contribute to meet the needs of health technologies management and assessment through the generation, integration and dissemination of information, recommendations and advices based on the best available evidence as well as the coordination of sectorial efforts that supports decision making in order to facilitate effective access to healthcare services.

Vision
Becoming a leading and independent health technology assessment and health technology management (HTA and HTM) organization on the NHS, consolidating the international prestige and reference.

Values
Attitude of service
Teamwork
Commitment with responsibility
Scientific and technical sustainability
Adaptability to change
Sense of belonging

CENETEC products are planned, in accordance with the Resolution WHA60.29 that request to member states:

1 .To collect, verify, update and exchange information on health technologies, in particular medical devices as an aid to their prioritization of needs and allocation of resources;

2. To formulate as appropriate national strategies and plans for the establishment of systems for the assessment, planning, procurement and management of health technologies, in particular medical devices, in collaboration with personnel involved in health-technology assessment and biomedical engineering;

3. To draw up national or regional guidelines for good manufacturing and regulatory practices, to establish surveillance systems and other measures to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of medical devices and where appropriate in international harmonization;

4. To establish, where necessary, regional and national institutions of health technology, and to collaborate and build partnership with health-care providers, industry, patients´ associations and professional, scientific and technical organizations;

5. To collect information that interrelates medical devices, which deal with priority public health conditions at different levels of care and in various settings and environments, with the required infrastructure, procedures and reference tools;