Selecting digital health technologies for validation and piloting by healthcare providers: a decision-making perspective from ontario.

Digital health technologies (DHTs) such as health apps are rapidly emerging as a major disruptor of health care. Yet there is no well-established process of decision making for selecting DHTs that are worthy of investing resources in their validation to determine whether they are ready (safe, effective, and not too costly) for health related use. We report here on an Ontario-based initiative to support such decision making. Specifically, we developed a decision-making algorithm that uses approved criteria including the strategic direction of the health research institute and the hospital, and availability of resources. The Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario has adapted our approach for other hospitals. We hope that other healthcare organizations, in and beyond Ontario, will consider this and alternative approaches, and that research will be conducted to evaluate such approaches.