Oxford Open Digital Health Supplement

Introduction

PATH is the leader in global health innovation. An international nonprofit organization, we save lives and improve health, especially among women and children. We accelerate innovation across five platforms—vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices, and system and service innovations—that harness our entrepreneurial insight, scientific and public health expertise, and passion for health equity. By mobilizing partners around the world, we take innovation to scale, working alongside countries primarily in Africa and Asia to tackle their greatest health needs. Together, we deliver measurable results that disrupt the cycle of poor health. Learn more at www.path.org. 

Project Background

In pursuit of our Mission: connect health leaders with the resources necessary for digital transformation, Digital Square offers a new way to invest in digital health—providing a space where countries and members of the global community can gather to think big and do good, together. By convening government officials, technological innovators, donor and implementation partners, and others across borders and boundaries in the Digital Square, we can grow possibility into reality by focusing on our common goal: connecting the world for better health.

Digital Square’s work support three result areas: 

1. Alignment and Co-investment: Digital Square helps to identify promising investment opportunities and provides operational support to streamline procurement. 
2. Global goods: Digital Square promotes the development, adoption, and reuse of global goods, and helps increase their availability, adaptability, and maturity. 
3. Regional and Country Systems: Digital Square helps elevate country priorities and strengthen regional and national capacity.

While there have been a handful of publications evaluating the costs of digital health investments, there continues to be inadequate evidence evaluating the impact of these investments on health outcomes.
As such, Digital Square is seeking authors to submit original work to a potential Oxford Open Digital Health peer review publication supplement. The supplement’s aim is to provide evidence of the health impact (e.g., coverage gains, lives saved, cases averted, DALYs averted) and/or cost-effectiveness of digital health interventions, particularly tools listed as global goods. Digital Square will be generating one method paper that can be shared with authors to potentially help inform methodologies. The method paper will focus on leveraging the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) and Digital’s Square’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Tool to understand impact and costs. Alternative methods are also welcome. We are encouraging submission in a variety of health areas. To be considered for funding, the submissions must be in relation to a global good.

Requirements to receive up to USD$25,000 in funding to participate (up to four awards): 

• The Digital health intervention you are evaluating is a Digital Square-supported global good. 
• You have one of the following: 
  • Data on the direct relationship between the global good and the coverage of a proven effective health intervention.  
  • A well-established link between the global good and coverage through peer review publications.[2]
• Data on how the global good has contributed to a change in coverage of a proven health intervention. Pre/post coverage data of the health intervention or a control group is preferred. 
• Data must be from low or lower-middle income geographies as defined by the World Bank. 
• Data should not be older than 2018. 
• Cost data on capital and operating costs is preferred but not required.  
• Your organization has staff experienced with writing peer review publications. These staff either have a methodology for estimating health impact and costs or are comfortable working with PATH/Digital Square to adapt their methodology, which leverages LiST and the digital health TCO Tool. The LiST method can be found in this paper, the TCO Tool is here and a formal methods paper for both will be circulated to authors in early Q2. 
• Interest in generating health impact data for your work. 
• Ability to meet Oxford Open Digital Health author instructions. Inclusion of authors from low- and middle-income countries is preferred.
• Case studies may be considered for inclusion if there is a strong linkage to the overall project theme.    

Application Requirements

Technical Requirements

Provide a narrative on your technical approach to accomplish objective(s) identified in the Scope of Work including:

Organization/Consortium overview: Overview of your organization / consortium. 

Global Good(s) / Technologies under review in the research: List of the global goods / technologies that are being used and evaluated in the research. 

Abstract describing the research (no more than 500 words), including:  

• Background. 
• Methodology (data sources, time frame, measurable outcomes, analysis methods). 
• Expected results (what health benefits will you measure/model and in what populations). 
• Implications (or anticipated implications). 

Authors (who is doing the research), including: 

• Previous experience with publications and research. 
• Name and qualifications. 
• Inclusion of authors from low- and middle-income countries is preferred.

Cost Requirements

The estimated size of award for this application is up to US$100,000 for up to four subawards for up to ten months. This figure is just an estimate provided for informational purposes to the applicants and is not binding.

Application Evaluation Criteria

The following is a list of significant criteria against which applications will be assessed.

Technical approach, tool and domain.

• Overview of your organization / consortium 
• List of the global goods / technologies that are being used and evaluated in the research. 
• Methodology (data sources, time frame, measurable outcomes, analysis methods) 
• Expected results (what health benefits will you measure/model and in what populations) 
• Implications (or anticipated implications) 

Budget and administrative compliance

• Budget format, documents requested etc.
• Cost and cost drivers

Research experience

• Experience with publications and research 
• Name and qualifications

Risks 

Participation in this supplement does not guarantee publication in Oxford Open Digital Health. Manuscripts will be reviewed by two independent experts. Reviewers will recommend to accept, accept with revision, or reject submissions. More on the peer review process can be found here.

Application Summary

Download Application PDF:

Full Application (PDF)   

Application Portal:

..Click here to apply.. 

Modification #1:

Modification #1 (PDF) 

Timeline

RFA Opens: March 21, 2023

Questions Due: April 18, 2023

Questions Responses: April 20, 2023

Applications Due: April 25, 2023

Applications Decision Notification: May 17, 2023