Health technology assessment for digital health Technologies in India: a framework for action

The aim of this study is to understand the path for establishing digital health technologies-health technology assessment (DHT-HTA) in India.

A rapid review of HTA and DHT frameworks on PubMed (MEDLINE) and Google Scholar was conducted to identify DHT-HTA guidelines, and HTA processes in India. MS-Excel template was created with key domains for assessing DHT in resource-constrained settings based on studies and reports identified. Responses received from seventeen experts with varying expertise in DHT, HTA, clinical, and research were contacted using an online form. Following the principles of qualitative research rooted on grounded theory approach, themes and domains were derived for a framework which was again circulated through participants. Weightage for each theme was assigned based on the frequency of responses and qualifiers were used to interpret results. Inductively derived themes from these responses were clubbed together to identify macro-level systems requirements, and finally pre-requisites for setting up DHT-HTA framework was synthesized.

HT are commonly perceived by experts (64.7 percent participants) as a technology strictly connected to health information. Real-world data (i.e., electronic health data) are recognized as a relevant tool in support of decision-making for clinical and managerial levels. Experts identified some pre-requisites for the establishment of DHT-HTA in the country in terms of infrastructure, contextual factors, training, finance, data security, and scale-up.

Our research not only identified the pre-requisites for the adoption of a DHT-HTA framework for India, but confirmed the need to address DHT-HTA's acceptability among. Hospitals and health insurance providers.