A digital health and evaluation criteria programme has launched across Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland, with an aim to unify digital health standards.
Developed to provide standardised regulation or risk management across the Nordic region, as well as supporting the adoption of health technologies on a large scale, the Nordic Digital Health and Evaluation Criteria (NordDEC) programme has been created.
Jointly funded by the Nordic Interoperability Project (NIP) and the Nordic health technology industry, NordDEC was launched earlier this month through an accreditation framework developed by UK-based company ORCHA, the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps.
NordDEC will test products against more than 500 measures across data and technical security, clinical assurance, usability and more. It will provide a system for healthcare providers across the five countries to evaluate and identify trusted digital health technologies within healthcare and preventative care, establishing a common benchmark for criteria across the region. In addition, the programme will provide guidance to product developers and technology owners to support them with clear parameters when planning new products and new market access strategies.
Each of the countries has an autonomous healthcare system; with each country able to add on localised accreditation criteria over and above the criteria set at a region-wide level.
“The Nordics is home to a vibrant and growing health tech industry,” said NIP’s CEO, Anders Tunold-Hanssen. “This programme provides suppliers with an attractive platform to reach the whole of the Nordics healthcare system, breaking down current barriers to market access. The next stage will be the creation of a digital library for the Nordics, containing thousands of top-quality apps which healthcare professionals can use safely and confidently.”
Founding CEO of ORCHA, Liz Ashall-Payne, said: “This has been a landmark project for ORCHA and all the countries involved and the learning can be rolled out across other geographical regions. It also gives suppliers a good springboard to easily meet the requirements to enter other geographies, such as the UK, Netherlands, Canada and the US.”
