As digital health tech proliferates, a new institute aims to cut through hype

As digital health tech proliferates, a new institute aims to cut through hype unknown

A new $50 million nonprofit initiative aims to independently evaluate health technologies’ impact on costs and quality, an attempt to help patients, payers, and providers sort over-hyped products from ones that actually move the needle.

The Peterson Center on Healthcare, a nonprofit supporting programs that raise care quality and drive down costs, announced the new Peterson Health Technology Institute Tuesday. The institute plans to publish its methodology for assessing new health technology as soon as September, and start publishing reports on specific sectors, like disease types or tech mechanisms, in 2024, executive director Caroline Pearson told STAT.

Especially after digital health investment surged early in the pandemic, health apps and software have proliferated — both those marketed to consumers and designed for organizations like health systems or insurers. Venture funding has since contracted, but customers are still faced with “an overwhelming number of solutions,” Pearson said. “It’s hard to know what is high value in this space.

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