Economics of Digital Health Technology

This SIG aims to bring together health economists and experts from other disciplines and stakeholders such as behavioural economics, cognitive sciences and social sciences. We aim to apply economic theory and advance the field of health economic research by enriching our understanding and generating evidence of DHTs to progress towards more equitable health and social care. It is timely to establish this SIG with the rapidly growing pace in the development, roll-out and uptake of DHTs worldwide. 

Interested in joining this SIG? SIG membership is open to all active IHEA members. Simply login and navigate to the Special Interest Groups section of the member center and click “join group”.

About the E-DHT

The E-DHT has four aims:

Connect: it brings together researchers in the global north and global south to further our understanding on all aspects of health economic research on digital health 

  • Provide a platform for those with an interest in the economics of DHTs across the global north and global south 
  • Bring together those interested in using economic methods to study and investigate DHTs, including early career researchers 
  • Encourage multidisciplinary collaborations by drawing on expertise and application of methods from other disciplines (e.g., clinical collaboration, cognitive sciences and social sciences) to foster synergies in health economic research in DHT (e.g., process evaluation, risk predictive models) 
  • Offer opportunities to broaden the dialogue with stakeholders and international organisations 
  • Share our research and knowledge to inform the wider global policy community, decision-makers and practitioners by organising workshops, talks and webinars9  

Collaborate: to encourage collaborative ways to conduct research across the global north and global south 

  • Stimulate discussion and debate on current knowledge and research methods of DHTs 
  • Encourage collaboration that could include research grant applications, journal articles, commentary, opinion pieces, blogs, podcasts  
  • Organise workshops and training including dedicated events including to support early career researchers and to have inclusive participation of research across countries  
  • Disseminate and share updates about research underway, publications, presentations, webinars, funding calls, through the development of a newsletter and/or an active social media channel (e.g., blog or podcast) 

Identify: to identify research gaps in digital health technology to support research priorities 

  • Facilitate debate and discussion of the current evidence, methods and identify gaps in our thinking of DHTs  
  • Provide a platform for researchers and early career researchers (global north and global south) to share their research 
  • Support health economic research capacity by identifying research opportunities to fill knowledge gaps 
  • Disseminate information and research opportunities (e.g., funding calls, grant applications, international research)  

Develop: to develop methods in health economic research and support teaching materials drawing on the most up to date evidence  

  • Share international research of the ways in which economic thinking can further our understanding of the wide-ranging impact of DHTs on the health and social care system 
  • Encourage the development of new ideas and methods to conduct rigorous, original economic research and generate evidence  
  • Offer the exchange of experiences in the development of relevant teaching materials on the economics of DHTs 
  • Function as a forum for teachers whose interest is in digital health to present and receive feedback drawing on the most recent evidence 

Webinars

This SIG will organise and host two webinars or two networking events a year, accommodating as many time zones as possible to achieve greatest reach and in line with IHEA’s EDI webinar guidelines. Webinars topics will be related to the economics of DHT for our members. The webinars will provide an opportunity to share health economic research, experience and community of practice. They will reflect expertise and experience across geographic settings and to support the development of teaching materials/curriculum. 

Past Webinars

April 23, 2024 – “Digital Innovations in Healthcare: The Role of Telemedicine and Artificial Intelligence”. Speakers: Dan Zeltzer, Tel Aviv University, School of Economics & David M. Cutler, Department of Economics, Harvard University. Click here to watch the recording.

SIG Convenors

The following convenors help guide SIG activities:

  • Dr. Divya Srivastava,  UK (Lead and Founder)
  • Dr. Adriana Castelli, UK (Founder)
  • Dr. Karsten Vrangbaek, Denmark (Founder)
  • Dr. Giorgia Marini, Italy (Founder)
  • Dr. Marco Liverani, Thailand (Founder)
  • Dr. Lucy Xiaolu Wang, USA (Founder)
  • Dr Siyabonga Ndwandwe, UK (Founder)
  • Dr. Susan Mendez, Australia (Convenor)