NICE’s Prioritization Process Explained
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) plays a crucial role in the UK healthcare landscape. It helps the National Health Service (NHS) identify and adopt health technologies that deliver the greatest benefits for patients while offering the best value. This article explains NICE’s prioritization process and what healthtech developers need to know to navigate it successfully.
The healthtech sector is rapidly transforming healthcare. Innovations, from AI-powered diagnostics to remote monitoring solutions, are constantly emerging. As the NHS faces increasing pressure from an aging population and rising chronic conditions, the need for efficient and effective solutions has never been greater. NICE helps guide the NHS in selecting the most impactful technologies.
Your Route to NICE Consideration
The NHS Innovation Service is the primary portal for healthtech products seeking NICE guidance development. While not every technology will be evaluated, this platform helps NICE identify suitable products for its priority areas. Innovators cannot directly refer their products for appraisal; the NHS Innovation Service serves as the required first step.
Andrew Walsh, Associate Director of NICE Advice, emphasizes the importance of registering products with the NHS Innovation Service in his blog post, “5 tips to help get your healthtech product to market, fast.” Registration is essential, but the path to NHS adoption can be complex. NICE Advice, a fee-based advisory service, helps developers plan and prepare. This confidential service operates independently of NICE’s guidance programs to ensure no conflicts of interest, providing expert guidance to both start-ups and multinational companies.
Understanding NICE’s Guidance Pathway
With approximately 2 million healthtech products registered for use in the UK, NHS decision-makers require clear direction on which technologies will address their most pressing challenges. NICE responds to this need by highlighting priority areas for guidance development. This helps NHS organizations choose the most suitable technologies, and it helps healthtech developers align their innovations with system needs.
Priority Areas for 2024/25
Understanding NICE’s priorities is crucial for healthtech developers. For 2024/25, NICE is focusing on innovations addressing:
- Mental health
- Early cancer detection/diagnosis
- Diabetes
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Women’s health
- Respiratory conditions
- Neurology
These priorities reflect the most pressing needs within the health and care system. NICE’s prioritization board will publish updated priorities for 2025/26 in June 2025. Keep an eye on the NICE website or sign up for the newsletter, “NICE News for Life Sciences”, to stay informed.
Early engagement through NICE Advice can help position innovations for success, regardless of whether they align with current priorities. Tailored support is available at any development stage.
Get in Touch with NICE Advice
Ready to begin the market access journey? Contact NICE Advice today to discuss your product and the specific support you need. Simply complete the enquiry form with an overview of your product.
Channel website: https://www.nice.org.uk/
