Health technology assessment

In December 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released two MedTech-related assessments in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal, which concerned ablative and non-surgical therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma and hidradenitis suppurativa treatment. 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 mid-November, the Federal Office of Public Health released an overview of the Swiss HTA program in a presentation “Bridging the Gap: How to Align HTA and Health Care Decision Making in Switzerland”.

In December 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new Interventional Procedure Guidance (middle meningeal artery embolization for chronic subdural hematomas), one Technology Appraisal Guidance (Hybrid closed loop systems for managing blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetes, and one new clinical guideline.

In November 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released one MedTech-related assessment in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal, which concerned posterior hypofractionated whole breast radiotherapy for early breast cancer treatment. 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 the fourth quarter of 2023, two new health technology assessments were initiated by the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System (AOTMiT). The assessments belong to the cardiovascular and neurovascular technology groups.

In November 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published four new Interventional Procedure Guidance (percutaneous thrombectomy for pulmonary embolism, percutaneous transarterial carotid artery stent placement for asymptomatic extracranial carotid stenosis, biodegradable subacromial spacer insertion for rotator cuff tears, extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal for acute respiratory failure) and one Health Technology Evaluation using early value assessment (virtual reality technologies for treating agoraphobia or agoraphobic avoidance). Also, five clinical guidelines were updated.

The HTA body of the Tuscany Regional Healthcare issues three types of documents: full HTA reports, rapid HTA reports, and motivational forms. With regional decree 24192 of November 15, 2023, Tuscany Regional Healthcare published one assessment and one re-assessment of medical devices in the cardiovascular and men's health areas.

On November 6, 2023, NICE announced the launch of its refreshed “NICE Advice” service. It offers three types of support for pharmaceutical and health tech companies seeking to enter the NHS market: advice, insight, and education.

On November 13, 2023, the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia released a user guide on the health technology assessment framework: adaptation for digital health technology (DHT) assessment. The guidelines described can be equally useful for HTA agencies, researchers, and developers of DHT, decision-makers, and regulators.

In October 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released one MedTech-related assessment in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal concerned posterior cervical foraminotomy versus anterior cervical discectomy for cervical brachialgia. 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 October 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new Interventional Procedure Guidance (percutaneous deep venous arterialisation, vaginal transluminal endoscopic hysterectomy and adnexal surgery) and two Health Technology Evaluations using early value assessment (digital technologies for delivering specialist weight-management services, virtual ward platform technologies for acute respiratory infections). Also, one new clinical guideline was published, and eight were updated.

On October 20, 2023, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) published six newly initiated health technology assessments, four of which relate to MedTech. These belong to pulmonary, interventional radiology, and physiotherapy technology groups.