The three founding principles underlying HAS

Wide scope
The scope of HAS' activities covers virtually all aspects of the organisation of healthcare. HAS can compare the clinical benefit of products, procedures, professional practices, etc and can thus offer professionals a wide variety of quality improvement tools. When necessary, it calls upon the added expertise of government agencies (AFSSAPS - Agency for the Safety of Healthcare Products,  InVS - Institute for Public Health Surveillance, INPES - Institute for the Promotion of Health Education) and research institutions (INSERM - National Institute for Medical Research, INCa - National Cancer Institute ...).

Scientific rigour
The assessments, guidelines and official opinions produced by HAS are based on the best available scientific evidence which is reviewed according to a rigorous method of critical analysis. In the absence of a 'sufficiently' high level of evidence, HAS relies mostly on the expert opinion of multidisciplinary working groups.

Independent advice
HAS reports provide independent advice. This is guaranteed by the legal status of HAS ("an independent public authority"), its financial autonomy, the diverse backgrounds of Board members, the absence of declared conflicts of interest, and the application of a collective decision-making process (see Organisation).  Board members are appointed for a period of 6 years, renewable once.