Open Call HORIZON-HLTH-2023-IND-06-07: Development and Harmonisation of Methodologies for Assessing Digital Health Technologies in Europe

European CommissionThis topic aims at addressing digital transition challenges through supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination 6 "Maintaining an innovative, sustainable and globally competitive health industry". More specifically, this topic aims at supporting activities that are contributing to the following impact area: "High quality digital services for all". To that end, proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed towards and contributing to all of the following expected outcomes:
  • Policymakers in the EU have at their disposal a methodological framework and standardised approaches for assessing digital health technologies, that helps them make evidence-based decisions regarding the introduction of digital health technologies in their health and care systems with added value for patients and society.
  • Regulators have access to robust, scientifically underpinned evaluation methodologies.
  • EU citizens gain faster access to safe and well-performing person-centred digital technologies and are empowered through these tools.
  • Health technology developers are better informed and dispose of more guidance on the evidence needed to demonstrate the added value of digital health technologies and have better insights on market predictability.
  • (Digital) Health Industry/digital health technology developers and HTA bodies can contribute to the development of EU harmonised Health Technology Assessment (HTA) rules based on common principles.
  • Improved cross-border use and interoperability of digital health tools and services throughout the EU and Associated Countries.
  • Increased trust in digital health technologies and better integration of digital health tools and services in health and care systems.

Digital health technologies have been driving a revolution in health and care ranging from general use of computers to algorithms designed to assist radiologists and radiotherapists in detecting and treating diseases, from robotic surgery to artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer aided decision models, and from mobile apps helping patients to self-manage their disease to electronic health records.

Digital health technologies are expected to further contribute to better people-centred health and care systems and have the vast potential to improve our ability to accurately prevent, diagnose and treat diseases.

However, assessing the added value and health benefits for patients and society pose a number of challenges in particular of methodological and technical nature. Best practice for common approaches in methodology for digital health are lacking, especially in the digital health tools that include artificial intelligence algorithms. A framework for the assessment of the digital transformation of health services and its impact is vital to generate the evidence required for decision-making on stimulating, using and/or funding digital health strategies at various levels in the health and care systems.

The Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in Health (EXPH) recommended in its report 'Assessing the impact of digital transformation of health services', further investment in the development of assessment methodologies and in a European repository for evaluation methods and evidence of digital health services.

To date, such assessment frameworks are relatively scarce, especially those addressing the transformative aspects of healthcare delivery on the organisational and operational level.

The proposals are expected to develop and harmonise methodologies for assessing digital health technologies (including mhealth apps and telehealth, as well as Artificial Intelligence powered health technologies) in order to facilitate assessment of their added value at individual, health system and society levels and facilitate the cross-border deployment of digital health services within the EU. Existing Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methodology is well developed for health technologies such as medicinal products, but also for some categories of medical devices; however digitalisation raises new methodological challenges to the standardisation of assessment criteria such as privacy, cybersecurity, data storage and handling, interoperability, usability etc. Also including aspects like learning curves, iterative development of innovations, variability between settings, determining optimal timing of evaluations in the development process (maturity) are not yet solved.

Proposals are expected to build on existing frameworks such as (but not restricted to) 'Model for Assessment of Telemedicine' (MAST framework - Kidholm et al., 2012) and the results of previous EU-funded projects in particular (but not restricted to) COMED, project that already identified HTA challenges of telehealth and mhealth, and mHealth hub.

Proposals should consider involving the JRC to take advantage of its expertise on assessment frameworks of innovative health technologies and its activities at the interface between research and regulatory aspects and/or in translating assessment results into best practice recommendations anchored in EU policies. In that respect, the JRC is open to collaborate with any successful proposal after its approval.

Opening date: 12 January 2023

Deadline: 13 April 2023 17:00:00 Brussels time

Deadline Model: single-stage

Type of action: HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

For topic conditions, documents and submission service, please visit:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-hlth-2023-ind-06-07

Most Popular Now

Mahana Therapeutics Signs Agreement with…

Mahana Therapeutics, a leading provider of prescription digital therapeutics, announced today that the company has entered into a multi-million-dollar distribution and marketing partnership with the Consumer Health division of Bayer...

ChatGPT can Outperform University Studen…

ChatGPT may match or even exceed the average grade of university students when answering assessment questions across a range of subjects including computer science, political studies, engineering, and psychology, reports...

NHS AI Diagnostic Funding: Five Things t…

Opinion Article by Guilherme Carvalho, Sales & Contracts Manager, Sectra. A new £21 million fund for AI was announced by the UK government in June, with the intention of providing NHS...

ChatGPT Shows Limited Ability to Recomme…

For many patients, the internet serves as a powerful tool for self-education on medical topics. With ChatGPT now at patients’ fingertips, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member...

Combining AI Models Improves Breast Canc…

Combining artificial intelligence (AI) systems for short- and long-term breast cancer risk results in an improved cancer risk assessment, according to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the...

AI Predictions for Colorectal Cancer: On…

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks second in leading causes of cancer-related deaths globally, according to the WHO. For the first time, researchers from Helmholtz Munich and the University of Technology Dresden...

Healthcare Chatbot: Expand Support with …

The Danish eHealth platform, sundhed.dk, has faced a substantial surge in requests from Danish citizens and has swiftly expanded its support and effectively adapt to the ongoing changes in queries due...

ChatGPT Shows 'Impressive' Acc…

A new study led by investigators from Mass General Brigham has found that ChatGPT was about 72 percent accurate in overall clinical decision making, from coming up with possible diagnoses...

WiFi SPARK's Healthcare Business Re…

Leading WiFi provider WiFi SPARK is rebranding its healthcare arm as SPARK Technology Services Limited. The new identity marks the completion of the integration of the former Hospedia bedside unit...

AI Performs Comparably to Human Readers …

Using a standardized assessment, researchers in the UK compared the performance of a commercially available artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm with human readers of screening mammograms. Results of their findings were...

ChatGPT is Debunking Myths on Social Med…

ChatGPT could help to increase vaccine uptake by debunking myths around jab safety, say the authors of a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. The researchers asked...

Online AI-Based Test for Parkinson'…

An artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by researchers at the University of Rochester can help people with Parkinson's disease remotely assess the severity of their symptoms within minutes. A study...