e-Health

In early December 2020, one more reimbursable health app was introduced on the Directory of digital health applications (DiGAs) at the Federal Office for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). These applications can be prescribed by physicians and psychotherapists and will be reimbursed by health insurers.

Belgian Health Care Knowledge Center (KCE) initiated the health services research on facilitators and barriers for e-Health adoption by general practitioners. The project has been started in 2017 and is still ongoing.

The Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment (AIHTA) is conducting a research project “Framework for reimbursement decisions of digital health technologies (mHealth) and its (retrospective) application on selected examples”. The project started in May 2020, with expected completion in November 2020.

In late October 2020, three more reimbursable health apps were introduced on the Directory of digital health applications (DiGAs) at the Federal Office for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). These applications can be prescribed by physicians and psychotherapists and will be reimbursed by health insurers.

On October 14, 2020, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) announced the ongoing update of the submission file guides to support companies who requested reimbursement for medical devices with a system of machine learning (artificial intelligence).

The revised EBM (German Uniform Evaluation Standard) catalog for ambulatory reimbursement in Germany came into force on October 1, 2020. MTRC has compiled the selection of the most significant changes, concerning In-vitro diagnostics, telemedicine and vacuum wounds therapy.

In early October 2020, the first reimbursable health apps were introduced on the Directory of digital health applications (DiGAs) at the Federal Office for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). These applications can be prescribed by physicians and psychotherapists and will be reimbursed by health insurers.

In late September 2020, the Austrian version of the DRG system (LKF) 2021 model with the relevant supplementary documents was published in Austria. For 2021, the main changes include the addition of sixteen new procedure codes and the introduction of two new procedure codes for billing in the day-case settings, update of cases flat rates, and adjustments of the cases daily component calculation.

On August 03, 2020, King’s Fund issued a report on technology and innovation for long-term health conditions. It was commissioned by Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) in England to explore four different digital innovations in health services from the UK and the Nordic countries to demonstrate transformative potential and compare and contrast themes across geographies.

The Ministry of Health has adjusted the regulatory nomenclature of medical devices, separating software, which is a medical device, into a separate group. The classification of software is given depending on the potential risk of its use. A potential risk class is assigned to software regardless of the potential risk class of the medical device in combination with which it is used. The order does not apply to medical products previously submitted for state registration.

In August 2020, mHealthBelgium announced two more health application accomplished M2 validation - Well@Home and AirView. After achieving M2 level, developers will get access to more options, like risk assessment framework, test centers, a lot of useful information.

On the 28th of July 2020, in the Official Journal of French Republic (JORF), an Order for the inclusion of the web application MOOVCARE POUMON intended for the medical telemonitoring of relapses and complications in patients with non-progressive lung cancer in the French List of Products and Healthcare Services Qualifying for Reimbursement (LPPR) was published. The application is already included in the LPPR list in section 1, “Materials and treatments in the home, dietary products, items for dressings,” chapter 1, section 7, and a specific sub-section 7, which has been created for web applications and software for remote monitoring.