Stricter regulatory oversight and guidance are needed to substantiate the claims of digital health solutions in order to maximize the benefits for patients, providers, payers and all other stakeholders in healthcare, according to a new report published in npj Digital Medicine.
In the report, a group of researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore propose the introduction of a digital health scorecard to assess new innovations in terms of technical standards, clinical outcomes, usability and cost. Assessments in each of the four sections would then be combined into a "global digital health score," which would represent the overall measure of quality and risk for a new product.
With the implementation of such a scorecard, according to the report's authors, "Patients and providers will benefit from and demand the ability to discriminate clinically meaningful solutions." Meanwhile, they added, "Payers and investors will need to identify high-value opportunities that ultimately guide reimbursement, investment decisions, and impact-focused care."
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