Candidate health technologies identified for disinvestment will require prioritization depending on the system's capacity for dealing with the assessments or for further considerations. Compilations of low value lists, such as the National Institutes for Health and Clinical Excellence's, “Do not do recommendations”, can serve as databases for prioritization topics. Prioritization processes can also be triggered by experience or event-based regional requests and decisions; new evidence on safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, variations in clinical practice, patient or consumer voicing, discrepancies between practice and guidelines; and or time-based mechanisms, such as approval of new health technologies and reassessment five years after introduction.

A search of the published and grey literature was conducted to identify the current methods or tools used to prioritize potential health technologies and services for disinvestment. The description of the methods and tools identified, the prioritization criteria, and the stakeholders involved in the process were reviewed and summarized.

The methods and tools used for prioritization that were identified in the literature include the PriTec Prioritization tool, nominal group technique, Program Budgeting and Marginal Analysis, consensus building, and online surveys. Further, common criteria for prioritization centered on the disease burden, possible risks and benefits, costs and cost-effectiveness, utilization, and time-based criteria. Prioritization can be conducted by health care professionals, decision makers, patients or patient groups and representative community members.

The prioritization process for disinvestment candidates should be transparent and guided largely by evidence. It is highly recommended that the list of predefined criteria be developed with input from all relevant stakeholders to meet the objectives of the specific health care setting. The commonly cited basic requirements include clinical parameters, economic measures, and social, ethical or legal considerations.