In 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the National Health Service England established a program to identify Digitally Enabled Therapies (DET) that increase access to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. The aim was to determine whether DETs could improve service efficiency, and whether outcomes are at least as good as those achieved by NICE-recommended non-digital therapies.

An IAPT assessment briefing (IAB) was developed for each eligible DET. IABs included an assessment of content, technical standards, clinical effectiveness, and cost and resource impact. IABs were reviewed by the NICE IAPT expert panel to decide whether a DET is suitable for evaluation in IAPT services, needs further development, or is not suitable. Suitable DETs were evaluated for up to two years.

Of 154 DETs reviewed by the program, fourteen had IAB assessments. The high dropout rate was due to ineligible products or developer withdrawal. Of the fourteen IABs, five were recommended for evaluation, one was recommended for development, and eight were not recommended.

DETs can provide an alternative for patients who may not be able to access treatment. When establishing programs to review DETs, centers must consider the quality of the products submitted and, where necessary, make pragmatic decisions about assessment criteria.