A Patient-Centered Framework for Measuring the Economic Value of the Clinical Benefits of Digital Health Apps: Theoretical Modeling

Background: As digital health tools such as smartphone apps evolve and enter clinical use, questions regarding their value must be addressed. Although there are scarce generalizable data on the value of health apps given their nascency and diverse use cases, it is possible to estimate the economic value of the clinical improvement they bring to patients using a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY)-based approach and generalized values from existing literature. Objective: This paper aims to provide a patient-centered framework for assessing the economic value of the clinical benefits delivered by digital health apps. Methods: We proposed a model based upon 5 levers: country-specific monetary value of a QALY, QALYs lost due to the condition, engagement rate of app users, average effect size of the app's health impact, and duration of the app's impact before remission. Results: Using 2 digital health apps from the United States and United Kingdom as examples, we explored how this model could generate country-specific estimates of the economic value of the clinical benefits of health apps. Conclusions: This new framework can help drive research priorities for digital health by elucidating the factors that influence the economic value.