How the FDA’s new DHCoE will help regulate digital health
The importance of interoperability, cybersecurity and the management of patient data is paramount as the number of new digital health solutions continue to surge
Back in September the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched its Digital Health Center of Excellence (DHCoE), which it says ‘marks the beginning of a comprehensive approach to digital health technology, setting the stage for advancing and realising the potential of digital health’. But just how exactly will the launch of the DHCoE benefit both payers and providers?
Improving access, reducing inefficiencies, and reducing costs
Mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine – since the advent of the global pandemic, a wealth of innovations in digital healthcare have burst forward, all offering solutions to the remote management of patient care while also improving the patient experience. As detailed but the FDA, providers and stakeholders are now successfully using digital health technologies in their efforts to reduce inefficiencies, improve access, reduce costs, increase quality, and make medicine more personalised for patients.
Providing clarity on digital health development
However, alongside its benefits, digital health comes laden with risks too. And the FDA is working to provide clarity on many of the topics in the digital health field, including cybersecurity, health IT, medical device interoperability, telemedicine, medical device data systems and artificial intelligence and machine learning.
For digital health to work efficiently, it must be successfully co-ordinated across multiple parties, all of whom seek to prioritise security and user experience. Cybersecurity is a very pertinent issue facing the healthcare issue at the moment, especially as it becomes increasingly digital, so this is just one of the aspects that the DHCoE will focus on.
Streamlining medical case management
Co-ordination is also a key concept, especially as both international healthcare providers, including assistance providers, will be eager to integrate more efficient patient care services such as telemedicine and patient-led health management apps – all of which produce a wealth of patient data that will need to be interpreted and stored by professional health workers.
The effective management of all this is key to streamlining medical case management and improving healthcare cost reduction.