Gastrointestinal endoscopy

On June 30, 2025, the document "Changes and innovations in the 2026 LKF model" (Änderungen und Neuerungen in den LKF-Modellen 2026) was published. The document summarizes the most significant changes and innovations in the LKF model for inpatient and outpatient care. The procedure codes expected to be introduced in 2026 mainly concern e-health, endoscopy, interventional radiology, orthopedics, pulmonology, and robotic fields.

On April 4, 2025, NHS England published the final NHS Payment Scheme (NHSPS) for the 2025/26 financial year (starting on April 1st), defining payment mechanisms for the provision of NHS-funded hospital and ambulatory care and some public health services. No significant changes were made to the general payment model. The key changes include the introduction of reimbursement for activities from Community Diagnostic Centres and a new Best Practice Tariff to incentivize shifting suitable procedures from day case/hospital to outpatient settings.

In February 2025, the HTA body of Tuscany Regional Healthcare published four new rapid HTA reports on medical devices used in cardiovascular, endoscopy, pulmonology, and general surgical fields.

On December 19, 2024, the Hybrid DRG reimbursement agreement for 2025 was published. It determines which interventions will be reimbursed via a hybrid DRG mechanism and the associated tariffs. The newly introduced DRGs mainly belong to the endoscopy, gastrointestinal, and men’s health fields.

On October 24, 2024, the BfArM (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) published the final version of the 2025 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 Germany. Multiple new procedure codes were introduced in several fields, including cardiovascular, endoscopic, peripheral vascular, and robotic surgery.

In December 2023, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclatures for private payers in England, published Bulletins with changes to be implemented no later than February 12, 2024. Five new procedure codes (concerning endoscopy, gastrointestinal, and spine) and one new in-vitro diagnostic code were introduced.

On October 26, 2023, the BfArM (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) published the final version of the 2024 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 Germany.

On August 11, 2024, the BfArM (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) published the preliminary version of the 2024 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 inpatient and outpatient care in Germany.

In mid-December 2022, the Danish Health Data Agency (Sundhedsdatastyrelsen) published an update of the Health Care Classification System (Sundheds-væsenets Klassifikations System, SKS). The most significant changes include: 11 new diagnosis codes, 27 new procedure codes, and eight additional codes (Tillægskoder) were added. The newly added procedure codes mainly concern the obstetrics and gynecology, surgical procedures, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and radiology fields, and some other technology groups.

On May 31, 2022, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) published the final positive opinion on the coverage of the endoscopic gastroplasty with the ENDOMINA triangulation platform under the Innovation package (Forfait innovation).

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 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.