New Collaborative Launches to Drive Digital Health Evidence, Adoption

A group of 14 healthcare and consumer trade associations has come together to form a collaborative to accelerate digital health research and adoption.

The Digital Health Collaborative will support evidence-based research and programs to raise awareness and confidence in adopting digital health technologies. The collaborative will bring provider groups, purchasers, and end users together to participate in research and other activities, such as convenings and annual summits.

Organizations that have joined the collaborative include the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), American Medical Association (AMA), AARP, AHIP, the Consumer Technology Association, the Digital Medicine Society, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and the Digital Therapeutics Alliance.

The collaborative will also receive support from the Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI), an initiative of the Peterson Center on Healthcare. The institute is tasked with evaluating digital health tools to determine their clinical effectiveness and budget impact for the payers, providers, and employers purchasing the technologies.

“The Digital Health Collaborative is raising the bar for guidance, research, and resources that can accelerate the adoption of solutions that work and are worth it,” said Meg Barron, managing director of engagement and outreach at PHTI, in a press release. “From a first-of-its-kind survey of digital health purchasing to making grants that advance evidence efforts, the Digital Health Collaborative is moving the industry forward at a critical crossroads.”

The collaborative’s initial activities include conducting a national purchaser survey and grantmaking. With support from PHTI, it will offer a Research and Impact Fund for aligned research and programs.

The collaborative has provided the Digital Medicine Society with the first grant from this fund for its Integrated Evidence Plans for Digital Health Products project. This project aims to determine the core components of a plan to streamline the evidence collection for technology decision-makers and to help digital health technology developers align their products with evidence requirements.

As the digital healthcare landscape evolves, industry associations have attempted to provide guidelines to ensure the safe and effective use of these tools.

For instance, the ATA released a set of principles last August to ensure patient data is protected during telehealth utilization. The Health Data Privacy Principles include six components: consistency, the definition of consumer health data, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), consumer rights, consumer consent, sale of data and opt-out, and enforcement. The ATA made several recommendations within these components, including that consumers should be provided with clear disclosures on the collected patient data, how it will be used, and how to opt out of processing.

Similarly, last year, the Collaborative for Telehealth and Aging published principles to ensure safe and effective remote care for seniors in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The principles state telehealth should be designed to address the needs of older adults, be equitable and accessible, and be coordinated across systems and people.

Health systems are also recognizing the need for collaborative efforts to boost digital health integration. For example, Northwell Health and Aegis Ventures partnered to launch Caire Collaborative in 2023, which will work with health systems to build hybrid models of care supported by virtual care solutions.

The collaborative includes a group of health systems that will serve as investors, early adopters, and clinical partners for the Caire hybrid model.

"Caire is highlighting and cultivating a new healthcare model through collaboration," said John Noseworthy, MD, emeritus president and CEO of Mayo Clinic and current executive chairman of Caire, in a prior interview with mHealthIntelligence. "Health systems are uniquely positioned to identify unmet needs, design effective solutions, and deliver care. There is nothing more powerful in the market today."