Early Health Technology Assessment of E-health

Abstract

In line with international trends, the public healthcare system in Norway is under increasing pressure. The composition of the population is changing and the number of elderly is rising, resulting in a growing need for health and care services. New technology enables the refinement and personalisation of existing health care practices, however not all technological innovations serve their purposes, and prioritising is needed. To improve the pace and efficiency the evaluation of health innovation, new methods for early health technology assessment (early HTA) are emerging in the literature. Early HTA evaluates technologies still in development by early examination of the medical, economic, social, and ethical implications of a health intervention. The purpose of this thesis was to study methods for early HTA of innovative technologies and explore the value of behavioural data in the assessment of usability of e-health solutions, through a literature review, semi-structured interviews, and analysing register data and behavioural data from the digital platform Digihelse.

In the literature of early HTA stakeholder analysis and scenario drafting were highlighted as prominent methods to collect and analyse data all innovation stages. Early HTA may be applied in the conceptual phase to address quality outcomes that can be used for benchmarking purposes in the further development and implementation. Further, including behavioural data in addition to register data from a pilot provides an important source to assess usability, identify inefficiencies and direct digital development in the right direction. This thesis points to early HTA as a method to identify drivers and barriers at an early stage, and decide on anticipated outcome measures to meet the users’ needs. The application of early HTA methodology may provide decision makers with stepwise decision support, particularly needed in e-health solutions to ensure sustainable implementation.