Diagnostic imaging

At the end of August 2021, the Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency (TLV) has initiated a theme survey on digital image diagnostics to identify new and innovative technology that may become important in Swedish healthcare. This could lead to potential inclusion of the technology in the Orderly introduction of medical technologies framework. The suggestions could be submitted no later than September 24, 2021.

On August 16, 2021, the preliminary version of OPS 2022 was published. Numerous content updates and new procedure codes concern chapters 5 “Operations” and 8 “Non-operative therapeutic measures”. Also, minor changes were made in chapters 1, “Diagnostic measures” and 3, “Diagnostic imaging”.New codes were introduced in the peripheral vascular, cardiovascular, nephrology and urology, endoscopy, gastroenterology, otorhinolaryngology, interventional radiology, orthopedics, pulmonary and airways, and other fields of care.

In July 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new Interventional Procedure Guidance (inducing and maintaining normothermia using temperature modulation devices to improve outcomes after stroke or subarachnoid hemorrhage) and four new Medtech Innovation Briefings (HealthVCF for detecting vertebral compression fractures on CT scans, trublood-prostate for triaging and diagnosing people with prostate cancer symptoms, AI technologies for detecting diabetic retinopathy, and Acumen IQ sensor for predicting hypotension risk).