Health technology assessment

In October 2019, the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS) has released an assessment report regarding the evaluation of Сerenkov luminescence image projection system for intraoperative evaluation of surgical margins in breast, prostate and gastrointestinal cancer. This new technology is expected to get an improvement in the effectiveness of oncological surgery and a reduction in costs.

The New Therapies (NT) Council provides comments on medical technology products and methods that are evaluated within the framework of the Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency (TLV) medical technology assignment. In October 2019, the NT Council recommended the use of FoundationOne CDx comprehensive genomic profiling test as support for the drug treatment choice in the context of clinical studies as there is a great need for knowledge and validation.

The HTA center of Swedish Västra Götaland region is aimed to work for the continuous development of knowledge-based care in the region and ensure that healthcare is supported by science and evaluation. Currently, Västra Götaland HTA-Centre works on several HTA projects related to medical procedures or devices: alertness therapy, MRI linac, and investigation, and treatment of PANS / PANDAS. After completion of assessments, the final reports would be released on the website of Västra Götaland region.

In September 2019, the Andalusian Health Technology Assessment Department (AETSA) has released an assessment report regarding the evaluation of epigenetic profiling to classify cancer of unknown primary (EPICUP). It was observed that people received empirical therapy without considering the results of EPICUP had a three times higher risk of dying compared to those with specific treatment of the location of the primary tumor, adjusting due to possible confounding factors.

In September 2019, the French High Authority for Health released an assessment report for analysis on DNA chips (ACPA) in different types of oncological conditions to determine its place in comparison with more conventionally used techniques. The ACPA allows to detect a large number of copy number of variations at the whole genome level, ploidy abnormalities, and heterozygosity losses; it is of interest as a cytogenetic technique with some specific advantages among existing technologies.

In Sweden, the Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology (CAMTÖ) leads the development of HTA cooperation in the healthcare region Uppsala-Örebro. In September 2019, CAMTÖ released a systematic review on surgical treatment of abdominal rectus diastasis one year after delivery. The literature search was performed, only one RCT was identified, but as the design of the study was associated with a high risk of bias, no conclusions could be drawn.

In September 2019, the French High Authority for Health (HAS) released an assessment report for gastric bypass, also known as omega loop in severe obesity. The evaluation aimed to compare omega-loop gastric bypass (OLGB) with Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) in terms of efficacy and safety. OLGB cannot be determined as an alternative treatment to RYGB considering the safety aspects due to a lack of efficacy and safety data. The method should be studied in a framework of clinical research.

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including spine technologies. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for spine devices in Europe.

In Sweden, the Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology (CAMTÖ) leads the development of HTA cooperation in the healthcare region Uppsala-Örebro. In September 2019, CAMTÖ released a systematic review on SMS alerts to laypersons for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) that aimed to clarify SMS efficacy on survival after OHCA. Currently, the best available evidence does not support the use of SMS alarm to laymen as a means of improving survival after OHCA.

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including robotic surgery technologies. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for robotic surgery devices in Europe.

In early October 2019, the Health Evaluation and Quality Agency of Catalonia (AQuAS) published the assessment of cosmetic laser iridoplasty. The work revealed that it is recommended to undergo this intervention exclusively within clinical investigation settings and after getting approval by the ethics committee.

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including radiotherapy technologies. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for radiotherapy devices in Europe.