NHSX has published a draft Digital Health Technology Standard to outline what the health service expects from the creation of apps and other digital tools.
It said the new standard, which it has put out for consultation until 22 April, is aimed at consolidating existing standards rather than create new ones.
It comprises 10 components, each with a rationale for why developers need to comply and links to the relevant guidance to support applications.
They include abiding by the Code of Conduct for Data Driven Health and Care Technologies, ensuring that products are designed to achieve a clear outcome and clinically safe to use, ensuring that they meet best practice security standards and all regulatory and legal requirements, an emphasis on open standards, and the need to generate evidence that the product provides benefits.
Speed up work
“This is part of our wider programme of work to speed up how health technologies are reviewed, commissioned and scaled across the NHS and social care, and to provide clearer guidance to support digital health technology developers,” NHSX said in its announcement.
It added: “This will help align procurement frameworks to make it easier for developers to navigate – and provide a common standard for other policy teams, such as diabetes and mental health, to use as a baseline expectation.”
NHSX – the body in charge of policy on digital healthcare which sits in the Department for Health and Social Care – is also hosting workshops with its industry engagement partner MedCity.
It also pointed out that Public Health England has recently launched a collection of resources to help anyone developing or running a digital health product to conduct an evaluation.
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