The DMAT is a toolkit developed in the Laurel project to support organisations involved in integrated long-term care (I-LTC) in assessing and improving their digital readiness.

DMAT’s purpose is to enable the transition toward better integrated, person-centred services and to facilitate the adoption of smart digital solutions by strengthening care delivery and professional capacity.

Source: Laurel project

A 17 December 2025 webinar helped to describe the DMAT, its structure, applications, functions, and what the tool helps to assess. Plenty more detail on the DMAT is available here and here.

DMAT’s structure and applications

DMAT can be applied in two complementary ways, through two questionnaires:

• a first designed for organisations engaged in I-LTC initiatives,
• a second tailored to specific I-LTC initiatives or practices.

This dual structure enables the toolkit to address both system-level organisational readiness and practice-level implementation maturity, which supports  more targeted improvement actions. In both cases, the assessment informs strategic planning, resource allocation, technology adoption, and the effective integration of digital solutions in long-term care services.

DMAT’s core functions

More broadly, DMAT supports health and care managers in four ways:

• evaluating the current level of digital maturity in their organisation or initiative,
• identifying gaps and priority areas for improvement,
• guiding strategic planning and investment decisions,
• supporting the adoption and scaling of digital technologies in long-term care.

Through this structured process, the toolkit provides a clear reference point and starting framework for digital transformation in I-LTC settings.

What DMAT’s assessment covers

At the organisational level, DMAT evaluates digital maturity across eight key domains, including:

• digital governance and management,
• IT capability,
• workforce skills and behaviours,
• interoperability,
• strategic planning,
• data analytics,
• patient-centred care,
• cybersecurity and ethical considerations.

At the initiative level, the assessment focuses on four areas:

• service and system readiness,
• technology maturity and effectiveness,
• societal impact of digitally enabled services,
• ethical dimensions of implementation.

Next steps for DMAT

Laurel now has several coordinated activities aimed at next steps for the DMAT.

The activities include:

• The finalisation of the online DMAT platform.
• A pilot testing phase involving selected integrated care practices.
  • Structured feedback collected in the pilot phase will inform the iterative refinement of both the tool and its accompanying guidance materials.

The longer-term objective is to prepare the DMAT for wider rollout in the Laurel community and across external integrated long-term care ecosystems, thereby supporting broader digital transformation efforts throughout Europe.

Watch out for where the DMAT, and digital transformation, heads next!

Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.