Methodological Frameworks and Dimensions to Be Taken Into Consideration in Digital Health Technology Assessment:...

Area of Science:

• Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
• Digital Health
• Methodological Frameworks

Background:

• Health technology assessment (HTA) is crucial for evaluating health technologies.
• Existing HTA frameworks require updates for digital health technologies due to their unique characteristics.
• There's a growing need for specific HTA methodologies for digital health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review to identify global methodological frameworks for digital health technology assessment.
• To determine the dimensions and aspects currently considered in digital HTA.
• To propose a novel HTA framework based on frequently identified dimensions.

Main Methods:

• The study employs a scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines.
• Peer-reviewed and grey literature from 2011 to the present will be searched.
• Data extraction and thematic analysis will be performed using ATLAS.ti software, with quality assessed by the CASP tool.

Main Results:

• The scoping review is ongoing, with results anticipated by November 2022.
• This research is expected to identify existing digital HTA frameworks and their evaluated dimensions.
• The study will provide a basis for a new, comprehensive digital HTA framework.

Conclusions:

• A significant knowledge gap exists regarding comprehensive digital HTA frameworks.
• This research aims to fill this gap by identifying best practices and proposing a reference framework.
• The developed framework will support healthcare systems in making informed decisions about digital health technologies.