Diagnostic imaging

On September 2, 2024, NHS England published guidance for planning, designing, and implementing Community diagnostic centers (CDCs). The national CDC Program is in its third year and has approved 170 CDC sites across England. The guidance sets the next steps and best practices in developing CDCs, including minimum requirements for core diagnostic tests that CDCs must provide permanently.

In August 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released eight MedTech-related assessments in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal, which concerned automated devices for identifying peripheral arterial disease, left ventricular assist devices as destination therapy, cerclage suture type to prevent pregnancy loss, gynecological cancer surveillance in Lynch syndrome, multiparametric MRI in bladder cancer pathway, in-home monitoring for people with glaucoma, real-time ultrasound elastography of thyroid nodules, and AI-based software for analyzing chest X-ray images. HTA Journal publishes research reports on the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage, and provide care in the NHS and informs National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

In early July 2024, Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) awarded seventeen projects under the Efficiency Research program, including four projects on e-health, two projects on diagnostic imaging techniques, two projects in orthopedics, one project on abdominal surgery, one project in gynecology, and one project in the cardiovascular area.

In June 2024, the following ongoing mini-HTA assessments for cardiovascular, diagnostic imaging, e-health, endoscopy, gastrointestinal, in-vitro diagnostics, men’s health, neurology and neurosurgery, neuromodulation, peripheral vascular, pulmonary and airways, robotic surgery, and some other fields are evaluated as a part of a framework for the managed introduction of innovations "New Methods" in Norway.

On May 4, 2024, the Reimbursement Commission of the Social Security Institution released an updated version of the Healthcare Implementation Communique (SUT). Three new MedTech field codes were introduced to relevant Annexes of the SUT, including FAST Ultrasonography; transcutaneous pacemaker application, and critical patient bed and follow-up in the emergency department.

In January-March 2023, the Austrian Institute for HTA published Rapid reviews of three health technologies: liposuction for the removal of subcutaneous (large) lipomas, biomarkers in Parkinson's disease, and the use of telepathology in intraoperative frozen section examination.

In March 2024, the Health Sciences Institute in Aragon (IACS) is working on several HTAs, including evaluations in diagnostic imaging, IVD, as well as clinical guidelines in endocrine, orthopedics, nephrology and urology, and some other fields.

On March 1, 2024, the updated Benefit Order was published in the Official Journal of the French Republic. Notable updates encompass modifications to existing emergency care supplements and the addition of new ones for non-hospitalized emergency care services, such as laboratory tests, imaging, specialist consultations, out-of-hours care, and specific provisions based on patient condition and age.

In March 2024, several ongoing mini-HTA assessments for diagnostic imaging, e-health, endoscopic procedures, IVD, neuromodulation, peripheral vascular, and some other fields are evaluated as a part of a framework for the managed introduction of innovations "New Methods in Norway.

On November 1, 2023, thirteen new procedure codes came into force in the updated Finnish classification of procedures (THL). The introduced codes concerned diagnostic imaging, radiology, neurology, peripheral vascular, and other fields.

The revised EBM (German Uniform Evaluation Standard) catalog came into force on October 1, 2023. The most significant changes concern the introduction of the new EBM codes for several IVD tests, prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography, as well as for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in vestibular schwannomas.

In September 2023, the Skåne University Hospital is working on several HTAs, including evaluations in the cardiovascular, diagnostic imaging, men’s health, neurology and neurosurgery fields