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An Independent Assessment of Technology Solutions

The Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI), an independent, nonprofit organization which evaluates innovative health care technologies, has released its comprehensive framework to assess whether technology solutions improve health and lower costs. The ICER-PHTI Assessment Framework for Digital Health Technologies was developed in partnership with the Institute for Clinical and Economic Research (ICER), a leader in health technology assessment.

PHTI’s independent assessments will evaluate the performance of health technologies designed to replace or augment traditional care delivery, including digital therapeutics, chronic care management apps, remote patient monitoring, and administrative technologies, many of which include artificial intelligence. The assessment framework will prioritize products’ clinical benefits and economic impact, as well as their effects on health equity, privacy, and security.

PHTI’s technology evaluations are intended to support purchasing decisions for employers, providers, and health plans seeking to understand the impact and effectiveness of new technology solutions coming to market. The assessment framework will also help guide technology developers and investors on performance standards and the evidence required to demonstrate stated clinical and economic benefits.

“The digital health market is flooded with an overwhelming number of new technologies claiming to transform healthcare delivery in all sorts of ways,” says Caroline Pearson, executive director of the Peterson Center on Healthcare. “Now is the time to step back and determine which tools actually have the evidence to support their claims. Through an independent, rigorous and transparent process, PHTI will cut through the noise to help patients, payers, and providers identify the products that can improve health and affordability.”

Each element of the ICER-PHTI Assessment Framework is grounded in evidence-based standards specifically designed for the unique attributes of digital health technology. The framework development process involved a range of experts in health technology assessment, clinical care delivery, health economics, and patient perspectives.

“PHTI’s thorough and thoughtful evaluation approach to emerging digital health technologies marries the best of what we know on effective clinical and economic assessments, with a real view to societal benefit,” says Lauren Taylor, MDiv, MPH, PhD, an assistant professor at New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Wagner School of Public Service, and an independent advisor on grounding PHTI’s approach in a socially responsible framework.

The selection process for which technologies are evaluated will be based on several factors, including market relevance, disease burden, level of spend and claimed savings, and evidence quality and availability. Companies with products selected for evaluation will be informed by PHTI and will be given the opportunity to share evidence and information for potential inclusion, subject to review and acceptance, as part of the assessment.

PHTI intends to update its assessments as new data and information become available and as new product versions and developments come to market. PHTI will also continue to collaborate with leading experts to further develop the assessment framework, advance new areas of evaluation, and improve the quality and relevance of its assessments.

— Source: Peterson Health Technology Institute