Health technology assessment

In late October 2023, the Basque Office for Health Technology Assessment (OSTEBA) is working on several HTAs, including the evaluations in the cardiovascular, diagnostic imaging, e-health, ENT, ICU/OR, nephrology and urology, IVD, neurovascular, obstetrics and gynecology, surgical procedures, and some other fields.

In October 2022, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) launched the project “Continued development of coverage management: Implementation of the use of disease models”, which will run for three years to gain more knowledge about the development and application of disease models for the assessment of technologies for coverage within basic health insurance.

In October 2023, the FinCCHTA published on its website a Digi-HTA assessment aiming to evaluate Lokomat robot-assisted walking rehabilitation device, as well as Indego – Exoskeleton robot-assisted walking device. The products received a total score of 08 (out of 10), which means the quality but insufficiency of available evidence and safety data. The cost of using the products could be high. There could be minor deficiencies in data security and protection or usability and accessibility.

In October 2023, the Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology in Örebro is working on several HTAs, including evaluations in e-health, ICU/OR, men’s health, orthopedic fields, and other fields.

On September 21, 2023, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) announced the submission of grant applications for the development or validation of methodology for labor deployment measurement and evaluation under the 2021-2024 HTA Methodology Program. The submission of grant applications will continue until January 9, 2024.

In September 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published three new Interventional Procedure Guidance (removal, preservation, and reimplantation of ovarian tissue for restoring fertility, transurethral water-jet ablation for lower urinary tract symptoms, cryotherapy for chronic rhinitis), and three Health Technology Evaluations using early value assessment (AI-derived software to analyze chest X-rays for suspected lung cancer, AI technologies to aid contouring for radiotherapy planning, KardiaMobile 6L for adults having antipsychotic medication). Also, two new clinical guidelines were published, and three were updated.

In September 2023, the Skåne University Hospital is working on several HTAs, including evaluations in the cardiovascular, diagnostic imaging, men’s health, neurology and neurosurgery fields

On September 5, 2023, the Ministry of Health published the Decree of June 9, 2023, on the adoption of the 2023-2025 National HTA Medical Devices Program.

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 19147 of September 6, 2023, Tuscany Regional Healthcare has published assessments of four medical devices in the peripheral vascular and dermatology areas.

In September 2023, the Health Sciences Institute in Aragon (IACS) is working on several HTAs, including evaluations in diagnostic imaging, endocrine, IVD, neuromodulation, orthopedics, peripheral vascular, and some other fields.

In September 2023, the following method assessments were initiated as a part of a framework for the managed introduction of innovations "New Methods" for cardiovascular, e-health, endocrine, gastrointestinal, IVD, men’s health, neurology and neurosurgery, neuromodulation, robotic surgery, and some other fields.

In September 2023, several ongoing mini-HTA assessments for e-health, gastrointestinal, IVD, neurology and neurosurgery, peripheral vascular, pulmonary and airways, and some other fields are evaluated as a part of a framework for the managed introduction of innovations "New Methods" in Norway.