Earlier today Policy Exchange’s Health and Social Care Unit published a major report, At your service, on General Practice. It’s an excellent critique with many worthwhile proposals for change.

Its section on digital transformation is particularly interesting. Definitely worth reading in full, but key standouts for us on digital health include specific proposals to:

• Shift emphasis of digital healthcare procurement to focus on quality-based outcomes that deliver results for patients and staff, rather than the current compliance-based approached.
• Develop sustainable funding models that routinely reimburse safe and effective digital healthcare solutions which benefit patients. For example, allow the prescription of proven digital healthcare solutions, along lines that have already been successfully introduced in other countries.
• Streamline accreditation processes for new digital healthcare solutions.
• Build confidence by giving patients greater access and control of their data.
• Make more use of that data for research and to make better, evidence-based decisions about how we provide our health services.
• Tackle the digital divide, with many examples of how significant progress has already been achieved.

The DHC was pleased to share our perspective with the report’s authors during the development of the report alongside input from DHC members askmyGP, Babylon Health, Livi, as well as many other insightful voices.