Funding

On October 20, 2023, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced that a budget of 130 million euros was allocated to support the upcoming launch of the Personalized Digital Care Plan. Healthcare digitalization is already a well-established reality that materialized into the Digital Health Strategy with more than 800 million euros budget allocated since 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic.

UK patients will benefit from a £30 million government investment in innovative medical technology, which will help ease pressures on the NHS this winter. The Integrated care systems will be able to invest in the latest technology that can help cut waiting lists, speed up diagnosis, and deliver new and improved ways to treat patients.

The “New Methods” framework invited interested parties to submit information regarding magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) for treating intracranial tumors, neurodegenerative disease, and pain related to bone metastases before October 31, 2023. Ordering Forum will then decide whether the method will undergo evaluation at the national level.

On September 1, 2023, the Institute for Hospital Remuneration Systems (INeK) announced the start of the application process for the innovation funding of the new examination and treatment methods (NUB) for 2024. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) reminds applying hospitals about minor changes in application requirements.

In August 2023, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) announced that the annual call for new topics is rescheduled. The next call will open from July 1 to September 30, 2024, and there will be no annual call in 2023. During the call, stakeholders can propose potential new screening programs or new technologies not yet considered by the UK NSC.

In August 2023, the 2023-2028 strategy for the “New Methods” framework was published. The strategy defines the most important objectives for further improvement of the framework over the next five years, including the development of appropriate processes and prioritization criteria for medical devices and procedures.

In August 2023, the Danish Health Technology Council (Behandlingsråd) decided to conduct evaluations based on completed health technology assessments (HTA) from other countries, adopting their results to the Danish context. This evaluation method will be introduced in addition to the currently used. The Council has already selected the first four HTAs for evaluation.

On June 13, 2023, the Swedish Medical Technologies Product (MTP) Council recommended that all regions delay the introduction of robotic systems for knee, hip, and spine surgery until they have been evaluated as part of the Orderly introduction framework. For now, MTP Council recommends robotic systems in these indications only to be used in the context of research.

In May 2023, the latest set of guidance (List 3) of the Evidence-based Interventions (EBI) Programme was published. The program is run by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), supported by NHS England and NICE. Ten procedures were added to the List across a range of medical specialties, including breast surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, cardiovascular, urology, and ophthalmology. It is expected that where treatment criteria outlined in the List for the intervention are met, it would be routinely funded.

The “New Methods” framework invited interested parties to submit information regarding microcurrent treatment for anxiety, depression, and sleep problems before August 8, 2023. Ordering Forum will then decide whether the method will undergo evaluation at the national level.

On April 28, 2023, the NHS Cancer Programme awarded £12.1 million to six innovations that improve the early detection and diagnosis of cancer. Awarded medical devices, in-vitro diagnostics, and digital health solutions are used to diagnose bowel, skin, liver, breast, ovarian, and esophageal cancer. They have proven their efficacy and clinical effectiveness and will be funded over the next 18 months to support rollout and real-world testing.

In April 2023, Swedish Medical Technologies Product (MTP) Council recommended that Magtrace and Sentimag be used for locating sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer. The products were evaluated within the Orderly introduction framework, in which all Swedish regions collaborate to manage the national introduction of innovative medical technologies.