International practices in health technology assessment and public financing of digital health technologies: recommendations for Hungary

Background Evaluating and integrating digital health technologies is a critical component of a national healthcare ecosystem in the 2020s and is expected to even increase in significance. Design The paper gives an overview of international practices on public financing and health technology assessment of digital health technologies (DHTs) in five European Union (EU) countries and outlines recommendations for country-level action that relevant stakeholders can consider in order to support uptake of digital health solutions in Hungary. A scoping review was carried out to identify and gather country-specific classifications and international practices on the financing DHTs in five pioneering EU countries: Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Finland. Results Several frameworks have been developed for DHTs, however there is no single, unified framework or method for classification, evaluation, and financing of digital health technologies in European context. European countries app