Evaluating your digital health company can provide numerous benefits. An evaluation can enhance program design or implementation by identifying effective and ineffective elements. It can also demonstrate impact by proving your ability to deliver outcomes. Additionally, it can strengthen your marketing materials by incorporating data that support your value proposition as well as aid in fundraising, sales, and grant writing efforts.

The California Health Care Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Community Health and Evaluation, has created an evaluation toolkit specifically designed for founders of digital health companies whose products aim to improve health outcomes or promote health equity. Although the examples in the toolkit focus primarily on start-ups serving Medicaid patients, the content can apply to a wide range of populations.

This toolkit can be used as a self-directed resource, a one-on-one coaching tool, or a collaborative learning tool to support the formal design of evaluations. It integrates equitable evaluation principles throughout, emphasizing the importance of equity in all aspects of the evaluation process.

The evaluation toolkit is organized into five sections:

1. Assess Readiness to Evaluate
2. Establish an Evaluation Vision
3. Determine the Evaluation Design
4. Prepare for Launch and Implementation
5. Resources & About CCHE

Additionally, the toolkit includes an Evaluation Planning Workbook, which contains worksheets referenced in the toolkit, along with an Evaluation Planning Case Study.

About the Authors

This toolkit was developed by Elena “Noon” Kuo, PhD, Senior Evaluation and Learning Consultant, and Maggie Jones, MPH, Director, at the Center for Community Health and Evaluation (CCHE), with support from Grant Clark, Communications Specialist, and Melissa Trapp Petty, Evaluation Division Manager. CCHE designs and evaluates health-related programs and initiatives across the United States.