NICE launches new tool to identify promising digital and medical tech

NICE has launched a new resource to help identify and support new health technologies for the UK health system to adopt, to hasten patients’ access to the cutting-edge medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health technologies.

HealthTech Connect has been developed with NICE’s partner organisations and has been backed by funding from NHS England.

NICE is on the look-out for technologies that offer measurable benefits to patients or other health and care service users, compared with those offered by current routine practice in the UK.

The system is free to use and will help companies understand information that financial decision makers need in the UK health and care system and clarify routes to market for them.

It also aims to help the UK health and care system to better plan for the introduction and adoption of health technologies, such as by reconfiguring services or enabling reimbursement.

Once registered, companies enter and update information about their technology as it develops into www.HealthTechConnect.org.uk.

This information is used to determine if the technology is suitable for consideration by an organisation that offers support to health technology developers; for example with funding, technology development, evidence generation, market access, reimbursement, adoption.

NICE and other UK health technology assessment programmes can use the site to identify if the technology is suitable for evaluation.

HealthTech Connect will then link up the new technology with the relevant assessment bodies such as NICE, meaning companies will not have to provide the same or similar information separately, reducing duplication of work.

Since the initial “soft” launch of the system in February, over 100 companies have registered to use HealthTech Connect, 13 technologies have been submitted, and one technology – Gynesonics’ Sonata System – has already been selected by NICE for an introductory briefing as a result.

Meindert Boysen

Meindert Boysen, director of the Centre for Health technology Evaluation at NICE, said: “HealthTech Connect is a clear and simple point of entry for companies developing health technologies, be it medical devices, diagnostics or digital health technologies, to access support and potential routes to national evaluation programmes.”