On 26 March, 2025, the EDiHTA project took part in a shared learning webinar on Digital Health Technology Assessment & System Transformation. The event was organised by Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS) as part of its series of Shared Learning Events. The event was held in collaboration with EHTEL.
The event focused on the role of health technology assessment (HTA) for digital health technologies in driving the transformation of health and social care systems across Europe.
Challenges with assessing digital health technologies
Digital health technologies are expected to improve both the quality and delivery of healthcare services for European countries at the same time as they ensure the sustainability of Europe’s healthcare systems.
As long as existing Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methodologies are either not harmonised or are not interoperable at European Union (EU) level, they will be unable to capture the real added value of digital health technologies.
The implementation of digital health technologies implies new methodological challenges to the standardisation of assessment criteria.
Content of the webinar
The webinar provided an opportunity to learn more about the development of the framework and its piloting in five European countries.
Panellists included EHTEL’s General Secretary, Marc LANGE as well as other EDiHTA contributors: Prof. Americo CICCHETTI (Ministry of Health, Italy), Emmanouil TSIASIOTIS (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy), and Louisa STÜWE and Vincent VERCAMER (Ministry of Health, France). EHTEL member, the Norwegian Centre for e-Health Research (NSE) is in the EDiHTA consortium.
Key takeaways from the webinar
Experts from across Europe engaged in discussions on:
- The implementation and impact of digital health technologies in the EU.
- How digital health technology assessment contributes to the transformation of health and social care systems.
- The potential synergies between THCS and the EDiHTA project in advancing digital health innovation.
Click the buttons below to watch the full webinar recording and explore the speakers’ presentations:
Marc LANGE’s own focus was on:
- An overview of relevant recent frameworks.
- Example regions that have used such frameworks e.g., the Region of Southern Denmark, the Digital Health Infrastructure of Catalunya.
- Seven keys for success when aiming for digital transformation.
- A Digital Health Uptake framing of digital health, ecosystems, and platform implementation.
- More than 30+ tools, models, and frameworks of which five (including EDiHTA) focus on value assessment.
See more info on these tools:
What EDiHTA does
The EDiHTA project has the ambition to overcome barriers to the standardisation of assessment criteria. It aims to co-create a European health technology assessment (HTA) framework. The framework will enable different levels of territory (whether national, regional, or local) and perspectives (e.g. payers, hospitals, society at large) to assess digital health technologies. Among the technologies for assessment: artificial intelligence (AI), mApps, and telemedicine. Various Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) will be explored.
For more info on EDiHTA.
To sum up
The webinar marked an important step in fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration in digital health assessment and implementation.
Stay tuned for further updates on EDiHTA’s contributions to the evolving digital health landscape.