Existing HTA Methodology for Digital Health Technologies (DHTs): A Review of the Literature, HTA Frameworks for DHTs and HTA Reports

Speaker(s)

Dietz J1, Friedrichson B2, Jaramillo C2, Zacharowski K2, Muñoz-López S3, Fibla-Reixachs J4, Ilowiecka K5, Segur-Ferrer J6, Paone S7, Battaglia L7, Marchetti M8, Sacchini D9, Cicchetti A10, Tsiasiotis E9, Prakash A11, Kievit W12, Oortwijn W12, Garrett Z13, Dawoud D1
1National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Manchester, Greater Manchester, UK, 2University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, 3Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), SABADELL, B, Spain, 4Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 5Health Policy Institute Poland, Warsaw, Poland, 6Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain, 7National Agency for Regional Services (AGENAS), Rome, Italy, 8National Agency for Regional Services (AGENAS), Roma, Italy, 9Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy, 10Italian Ministry of Health, Rome, Italy, 11Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands, 12Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands, 13National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Manchester, UK

Presentation Documents

OBJECTIVES: The European Digital Health Technology Assessment (EDiHTA) consortium aims to develop the first flexible, inclusive, validated and ready-for-use European HTA framework for different digital health technologies (DHTs). However, to inform its development, it is essential to understand what is currently being done. We reviewed the evidence to understand what frameworks for assessing DHTs are being used by HTA agencies, and how these frameworks work in practice.

METHODS: This work has 3 parts: 1) a review of the literature – updating a previous review published in 2022 by the Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya (AQuAS) 2) a review of DHT assessment frameworks being used by HTA bodies 3) a review of DHT HTA reports. An analytic framework based on the DHT HTA domains, dimensions and sub-dimensions identified by AQuAS was used to synthesize the data.

RESULTS: The literature review identified 8,171 unique studies published since the AQuAS review, 12 of which were included. The review of DHT HTA frameworks included 7 frameworks from 6 countries (Spain, Germany, Belgium, Finland, England, Scotland). Analysis of the studies is ongoing. This research will 1) discuss whether the elements being considered in DHT HTA frameworks have changed since the AQuAS review 2) compare the frameworks in the published literature with those being implemented by HTA agencies 3) highlight similarities and differences between HTA agencies in how they evaluate DHTs.

CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of DHTs is a complex area, and one that is developing rapidly. A large number of frameworks for assessing DHTs have been proposed in the literature, and an increasing number of HTA agencies either have or are developing DHT specific HTA frameworks. The EDiHTA project aims to bring consistency to a complicated and crowded area by developing a DHT specific HTA framework that can be used across Europe.

Code

MT62

Topic

Health Technology Assessment, Medical Technologies, Study Approaches

Topic Subcategory

Decision & Deliberative Processes, Literature Review & Synthesis, Value Frameworks & Dossier Format

Disease

No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas