Endoscopic procedures

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.

In November 2021, the National Board of Health and Welfare released an annual update of the Swedish procedure coding classification (Classification of Health Care Measures, KVÅ) that will come into force in January 2022. KVÅ includes two parts – medical procedures (KMÅ) and surgical procedures (KKÅ) divided into chapters based on anatomical principles. In 2022, six new surgical procedure codes will be introduced. Furthermore, structural changes will be made in Chapter V "Operations on the aorta, peripheral vessels, and lymphatic system," introducing two new sub-chapters with 318 new codes. A total of 53 new medical procedure codes (KMÅ) will be added.

In late October 2021, the BfArM (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) has published the final version of the 2022 OPS procedure coding classification. The OPS, together with the ICD-10-GM (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, German Modification), forms the basis for the reimbursement systems in outpatient and inpatient care.

In late September 2021, the Austrian version of the DRG system (LKF) 2022 model with the relevant supplementary documents was published in Austria. The document "Changes and innovations in the 2022 LKF model" (Änderungen und Neuerungen in den LKF-Modellen 2022) summarizes the most significant changes and innovations in the LKF model for inpatient and outpatient care. The newly added procedure codes concern mainly the cardiovascular, E-Health, and gastrointestinal area.

The HTA body of the Tuscany Regional Healthcare issues two types of documents: HTA forms and motivational forms. With a regional decree 14763 of August 25, 2021, Tuscany Regional Healthcare has published assessments of thirteen medical devices of various therapeutic areas, including devices belonging to the obstetrics and gynecology field, as well as gastroenterology, urology, cardiovascular, endoscopy, spine, peripheral vascular, and other fields of care.

In mid-August 2021, the Finnish Coordinating Center for Health Technology Assessment announced the release of the four accomplished rapid hospital assessments (HTA) performed by the Helsinki University Hospital. The accomplished rapid HTAs concern the cardiovascular, peripheral vascular, and endoscopy technology groups.

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.

On July 30, 2021, the Swiss Federal Statistics Office (UFS) published the 2022 version of the procedure code (CHOP) nomenclature in the German language. The newly introduced codes concern various technology groups, such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurology, interventional radiology, orthopedics, gynecology, and others.

In mid-June 2021, the document "Changes and innovations in the 2022 LKF model" (Änderungen und Neuerungen in den LKF-Modellen 2022) was published. The document summarizes the most significant changes and innovations in the LKF model for inpatient and outpatient care. The newly added procedure codes concern mainly the cardiovascular, e-Health, and gastrointestinal area.

For the first time in three years, the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) received data within the framework of the early benefit assessment of new examination and treatment methods (NUB) with high-risk medical devices according to §137h of Social Code Book (SGB) V. This involves seven invasive therapeutic cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, gastrointestinal, and urological procedures.

The Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) updates the Health Care Classification System (Sundheds-væsenets Klassifikations System, SKS) quarterly. It publishes the results on its website two weeks before the implementation, while the files with the changes are sent to the hospital systems. Most of the newly introduced procedure codes concern the gastrointestinal field.