NHSX: Streamlining digital health technology assessments

On Wednesday 7 October 2020 NHSX published the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria, in beta (known as ‘DTAC’). The DTAC sets the baseline criteria for the assessment of digital health and social care technologies for use by the NHS, social care staff, or directly by citizens. It replaces the existing Digital Assessment Questionnaire and the Digital Assessment Portal, and offers a simpler, clearer baseline for digital health technologies to adhere to. You can read more about it in this recent blog from NHSX.

The publication follows a consultation which NHSX ran, in conjunction with MedCity, from February to April this year on a draft Digital Health Technology Standard. The feedback from the consultation was that stakeholders wanted more tangible guidance, a clearly defined question set against which digital technologies should be assessed against, and clarity on whether this applied more broadly than patient facing apps.With this in mind, NHSX has moved away from the proposed Digital Health Technology Standard.

NHSX is  running two open sessions on the DTAC for innovators on Thursday 5 November at 2pm to 3pm; and for commissioners on Tuesday 17 November at 1pm to 2pm. These sessions will include what it means to be assessed, to be an assessor, and how we are working to integrate into procurement processes.

You can keep in touch with NHSX’s news and updates generally, by subscribing to their monthly e:bulletin here. If you have any questions about the DTAC you can get in touch at dnhsx@nhsx.nhs.uk.