Health Technology Assessment of Telemedicine Interventions in Diabetes Management: Evidence from UAE

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) has become an important prerequisite for funding and approval of technology across the globe. The objective of this study is to perform HTA for a different level of telemedicine (TM) intervention in the management of diabetes. The study performs HTA for three-level of TM interventions: in-person care, hybrid care and pure telecare. The study uses a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool, Analytic Hierarchy Process-Entropy (AHPE) for the evaluation of three levels of intervention on four criteria, namely, cost-effectiveness, clinical effectiveness, the safety of use and ease of use. The study uses a focus group containing 12 experts working in the United Arab Emirates. The results suggest that TM is yet to replace in-person care (0.52) as a preferred mode of care. The study indicates that hybrid care (0.31) is preferred over pure telecare (0.17). Out of the four criteria used for HTA, clinical effectiveness (0.49) was found most important followed by safety during use (0.37), cost-effectiveness (0.12) and ease of use (0.06). The study provides an approach for use of multi-criteria decision-making in HTA. It also advocates the phased approach of the adoption of remote care in healthcare. The study of this finding is useful for healthcare administrators and policymakers.