Assessment of digital health technologies – Diabetes applications in Germany

Abstract

Digitalisation has rapidly proliferated the service sector in the last decade, leading to considerable transformation in the delivery of health services. Nearly 90,000 new applications were launched around the world last year, all promising more efficient, faster, safer or more convenient care compared to the traditional care pathways. Digital healthcare applications developed in area of ​​diabetes have huge potential, but the quality and quantity of available evidence on the safety and effectiveness of the technologies remains limited.  To make digital health applications and platforms more accessible, several European countries are in the process of adopting a statutory reimbursement obligation by amending of the traditional health technology assessment frameworks to fit the particularities of digital health solutions. This article provides a general overview of the challenges surrounding the assessment of digital health technologies, drawing on the first experiences of the German digital healthcare act (“Digitale Versorgungsgesetz”), with a focus on diabetes care applications and platforms.