e-Health

In October 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released seven Med Tech-related assessments in its HTA Journal, which concerned the Genedrive kit, timing of stoma closure in neonates, interventions in perceptual disorders after stroke, revascularisation strategy for chronic limb ischemia, MRI software and cognitive fusion biopsies in prostate cancer, transperineal prostate biopsy devices, and ultraviolet therapy in severe eczema. 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 NICE guidance.

In November 2024, the Danish Government presented a new Strategy for Life Science towards 2030. The Strategy will strengthen the role of innovative health solutions in relation to freeing up labor and ensuring a sustainable healthcare system. The Vision is that Denmark must be a leading life science nation in Europe to benefit patients, the Danish healthcare system, and the Danish economy.

In October 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new Diagnostics Guidance concerning heart failure algorithms for remote monitoring in people with cardiac implantable electronic devices and digital technologies for assessing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

In October 2024, the annual update of the Swedish procedure coding system (Classification of Health Care Measures, KVÅ) was released to come into force on January 1, 2025. A total of 55 new surgical procedure codes and 43 new medical procedure codes were introduced concerning diagnostic imaging, endoscopy, ENT, men’s health, nephrology and urology, gynecology, orthopedics, pulmonology, and some other areas.

In October 2024, the Finnish Coordinating Center for Health Technology Assessment released a report aiming to summarize the results of the comparative analysis of Finnish Digi-HTA and French Early coverage of digital medical devices framework (PECAN) assessment criteria. The analysis focuses on the frameworks' general aspects and the cybersecurity requirements.

In Q3 2024, Health Technology Wales completed three full appraisals with the publication of Evidence Appraisal Report and Guidance (AI for whole slide prostate biopsy images, AI-assisted endoscopy for gastrointestinal cancer, and Floseal in the treatment of epistaxis). Furthermore, 24 Med Tech-related Topic Exploration Reports were published concerning cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, gynecology, e-health, in-vitro diagnostics, and other areas.

In September 2024, it was announced by the Danish Regions that according to the budget agreements for 2025, all regions have prioritized money to strengthen the local healthcare system (primary care) and ensure a robust hospital system and a continued high level of activity.

The Danish Health Data Authority quarterly updates the Health Care Classification System (SKS). The updated version was published in mid-September 2024 to come into force on October 1, 2024. Eight new medical procedure codes and one new code for diagnostic investigations were introduced concerning obstetrics and gynecology, extracorporeal treatments, spine, cardiovascular, e-health, diagnostic imaging, and some other fields.

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 August 2024, NICE published its position statement on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods in the generation and reporting of evidence considered by NICE evaluation programs. According to it, any use of AI should be done judiciously, leveraging the strengths of AI to support and enhance decision-making only when it is suitable and adds value. The use of AI methods should augment human involvement, not replace it.

In July 2024, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) awarded thirteen projects under the 2025 round of the Efficiency Research program, including one project on e-health, one project on extracorporeal treatments, one project in orthopedics, one project in neurology, one project in urology, two projects in obstetrics and gynecology, one project in radiotherapy and one project in the cardiovascular area.

On August 19, 2024, the Agenda for the meeting of the Board of Danish Regions was published. One of the themes to be discussed during the meeting was the Danish Regions consultation response regarding the Health Structure Commission's report. The meeting was held on August 22, 2024.