Health technologies can improve health—but their value depends on more than their technical performance alone. They must respond to people’s needs and fit the work of healthcare professionals, services and care pathways, the wider health system, and the societal and cultural contexts in which they are used.
This introductory course presents the Life Cycle of Health Technologies 2.0 (LC 2.0): a framework for understanding how knowledge supports decisions throughout the journey of a health technology. Learners explore the distinction between products, health technologies, and technology groups; examine why technologies produce different results in different real-world settings; and learn how LC 2.0 connects health needs, innovation, research, development, implementation, routine use, reassessment, and renewed learning.
Using practical examples, the course shows how evidence, stakeholder perspectives, services, care pathways, values, and context shape whether a health technology creates value in practice.
Otte M, Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea I and Dauben HP (2026) From product to knowledge: the life cycle of health technologies 2.0 as a framework for health system improvement. Front. Pharmacol. 17:1869110. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2026.1869110
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1869110/full#cite
Course title: The Life Cycle of Health Technologies 2.0 – An Introduction
Course type: Self-paced e-learning course
Level: Introductory
Duration: Approximately 30–45 minutes
Language: English
Target group: Students and professionals working in health technology assessment, regulation, healthcare innovation, service delivery, health policy, research, and related fields. No previous knowledge of LC 2.0 is required.
Course description: This course introduces the Life Cycle of Health Technologies 2.0 (LC 2.0), a framework for understanding how knowledge supports decisions throughout the journey of a health technology—from an identified health need to real-world use, reassessment, and renewed learning.
No prior knowledge of the Life Cycle of Health Technologies 2.0 (LC 2.0) is required.
Learners should have:
A basic interest in healthcare, health technologies, or health-system decision-making
Access to a computer, tablet, or mobile device with a stable internet connection
A modern web browser
Audio enabled, if the course includes audio content
Approximately 30–45 minutes to complete the course
The course is suitable for learners from different professional backgrounds, including health technology assessment, regulation, healthcare innovation, service delivery, health policy, research, and related fields.
This course is designed for students and professionals who want to understand how health technologies are developed, introduced, used, and reassessed in real-world health systems.
It is particularly relevant for people working in or studying:
Health technology assessment
Healthcare regulation and policy
Healthcare innovation and research
Service delivery and care-pathway design
Health-system management and planning
Public health
Clinical practice and healthcare organisations
Industry, payer, patient, or civil-society organisations involved in health-technology decisions
No previous knowledge of the Life Cycle of Health Technologies 2.0 (LC 2.0) is required.