1 Purpose of this document
NICE's assessment of digital technologies for delivering multidisciplinary weight-management services recommends that more evidence is generated while 9 of the technologies are being used in the NHS:
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CheqUp, Gro Health W8Buddy, Juniper, Liva, Oviva, Roczen and Second Nature are recommended for prescribing and monitoring weight-management medicine and delivering multidisciplinary weight-management services for managing overweight and obesity in adults.
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CheqUp, Counterweight, Gro Health W8Buddy, Juniper, Liva, Oviva, Roczen, Second Nature and Weight Loss Clinic are recommended for delivering multidisciplinary weight-management services for managing overweight and obesity in adults when they are not used to prescribe and monitor weight-management medicine.
These technologies can be used once they have Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) approval. Three other technologies that were assessed can only be used in research and are not covered in this plan.
This plan outlines the evidence gaps and what real-world data needs to be collected for a NICE review of the technologies again in the future. It is not a study protocol but suggests an approach to generating the information needed to address the evidence gaps. For assessing comparative treatment effects, well-conducted randomised controlled trials are the preferred source of evidence, if these can address the research gap.
The companies are responsible for ensuring that data collection and analysis takes place. Support for evidence generation will be available through a competitive process facilitated by the Office for Life Sciences, pending business case approval. This will be in the form of funding for evidence generation consortia, bringing analytical partners and implementation sites together with companies for evidence generation.
The Department of Health and Social Care's Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has also announced a 2\u2011\year pilot programme evaluating service delivery models to support access to weight-management medicine. NHS England will deliver the programme, with analytical partners commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The programme may support evidence generation for technologies adopted through NHS England's procurement process.
Guidance on commissioning and procurement of the technologies will be provided by NHS England, who are developing a digital health technology policy framework to further outline commissioning pathways.
NICE will withdraw the guidance if the companies do not meet the conditions in section 4 on monitoring.
After the end of the evidence generation period (4 years), companies should submit their evidence to NICE in a form that can be used for decision making. NICE will review all the evidence and assess whether the technologies can be routinely adopted in the NHS.