Endoscopic procedures

On March 4, 2022, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland, ZIN) announced three projects which received a subsidy under the "Subsidy scheme for promising care" in 2022 for research of a new minimally invasive endoscopy-guided surgery in patients with spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage, oral immunotherapy in children to cure a food allergy and cutting the diaphragm band in chronic abdominal complaints.

In February 2022, the Finnish Coordinating Center for Health Technology Assessment announced the release of the seven accomplished rapid hospital assessments performed by the Helsinki, Tampere, and Oulu University Hospital. The accomplished rapid HTAs concern the diagnostic imaging, e-Health, endocrine, endoscopy, men’s health, neuromodulation technology groups.

On February 16, 2022, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) has published the decisions which recommended the transfer to standard care for three completed projects. The projects relate to the prevention of antibiotic resistance, improvement of healthcare in socially disadvantaged areas, and misuse of control colonoscopies in Germany.

On January 28, 2022, the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) has published the list of the requests for innovation funding (NUB) that were submitted by the hospitals in 2021. The medical technologies belonging to the cardiovascular, ENT, eHealth, gastrointestinal, neuromodulation, neurovascular, orthopedic, and other technology groups obtained positive status 1.

In December 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new Interventional Procedure Guidance (endobronchial nerve ablation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer), two new Medical Technologies Guidance (ClearGuard HD antimicrobial barrier caps, and Endo-SPONGE for treating low rectal anastomotic leak), and one new Medtech Innovation Briefings (FreeO2 automatic oxygen titration). Also, one new clinical guideline was published, and five were updated.

On December 9, 2021, the Danish Treatment Council (Behandlingsråd), during its meeting, approved three topics selected for developing the so-called major analyses (større analyser) in 2022. The approved topics include handheld focused ultrasound in emergency medicine, artificial intelligence (AI) as decision support for colonoscopy, and intelligent/high-tech beds for use in intensive care units.

In early December 2021, the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsdatastyrelsen) has published DRG tariffs, as well as psychiatric and rehabilitation rates for 2022. Later on, in mid-December 2021, the DRG tariff system (Takstsystem) guide for 2022 was also published. Among other changes, seven new DRGs, specifically in ENT, endoscopy, obstetrics, and gynecology fields, were introduced.

On December 17, 2021, NHS Digital released HRG4+ Consultation Grouper for 2022/23. This release is used to support the NHS England and Improvement consultation process for the 2022/23 National Tariff Payment System. In general, there are significant changes in base HRG design. A total of 120 new HRGs were created, multiple HRGs were removed, and the grouping logic was updated significantly. This Consultation Grouper will be superseded by the 2022/23 Local Payment Grouper in March 2022, for use from April 01, 2022.

The HTA body of the Tuscany Regional Healthcare issues two types of documents: HTA forms and motivational forms. With a regional decree 20520 of November 22, 2021, Tuscany Regional Healthcare has published assessments of seventeen medical devices of various therapeutic areas, including devices belonging to neurology, as well as gastrointestinal, urology, cardiovascular, orthopedics, peripheral vascular, and other fields of care.

The new version of the classification of procedure codes (CCAM v.68) applicable from 09/12/2021 was published in France. Multiple changes were introduced, including registration of 22 new procedure codes, changes of notes and tariffs for procedure codes, removal of two codes, and other changes. New codes are related to procedures on the gastrointestinal tract, surgical procedures, peripheral vascular procedures, etc.

In early December 2021, NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative announced seven technologies that will be covered by the MedTech Funding Mandate (MTFM) in 2022/23: four for benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment (UroLift, GreenLight XPS, Rezum, and PLASMA system), and three for improving the patient experience during procedures (XprESS multi-sinus dilation system, Thopaz+, and Spectra Optia). Four technologies included in 2021/22 (placental growth factor-based testing, SecurAcath, HeartFlow, and gammaCore) will continue to be supported.

In late October 2021, the Treatment Council (Behandlingsråd) published three topics chosen for developing the so-called major analyses (større analyser) in 2022. The selected topics include patient-centered diabetes technology, hand-held focused ultrasound in emergency medicine, and artificial intelligence as decision support for colonoscopy.