Innovation funding

In late November 2024, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the decisions recommending the transfer to standard care for two completed projects. The projects were dedicated to relieving the burden of emergency rooms and improving infection surveillance in nursing homes.

On November 28, 2024, NHS England published a report summarising the Innovation Ecosystem Programme’s (IEP) findings and recommendations for the next steps. The IEP aimed to foster collaboration between the NHS and key stakeholders (industry, academia, and regulators) to streamline healthcare innovation. Recommendations are summarised in four areas: a) setting the direction, b) structures and tools for delivery, c) people, skills, and capabilities, and d) acceleration.

On November 21, 2024, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) announced that a total of fifty applications for Innovation Funding for the new forms of care in one- and two-stage procedures were accepted.

In November 2024, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) published an updated regulation and policy framework for small-scale experiments to introduce innovations, which will enter into force on January 01, 2025. The small-scale experiments for introducing innovations apply to innovative medical procedures that improve the organization and provision of patient care (including online consultation, telemonitoring, home neuromodulation, school counseling, etc.) but do not have enough evidence to obtain coverage within basic health insurance.

In October 2024, the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport decided to discontinue the "Subsidy scheme for promising care," which was implemented in 2019 to support the development of missing clinical and economic evidence for promising care that otherwise cannot be covered within basic health insurance. There are 28 ongoing projects, and some new projects will be awarded the subsidy in the 2025 round.

On October 14, 2024, the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) published the DRG catalog (Fallpauschalen-Katalog) with the list of DRGs and additional reimbursement categories (ZEs) for 2025. Three new DRGs were introduced in the endoscopy and ophthalmology fields.

In September 2024, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland, ZIN) announced two projects that received a subsidy under the "Subsidy scheme for promising care" in 2024 for research on the cost-effectiveness of cold plasma therapy for diabetic foot or venous leg wounds and intranasal mesenchymal stem cells in newborns with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.

In July 2024, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) awarded thirteen projects under the 2025 round of the Efficiency Research program, including one project on e-health, one project on extracorporeal treatments, one project in orthopedics, one project in neurology, one project in urology, two projects in obstetrics and gynecology, one project in radiotherapy and one project in the cardiovascular area.

In early July 2024, Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) awarded seventeen projects under the Efficiency Research program, including four projects on e-health, two projects on diagnostic imaging techniques, two projects in orthopedics, one project on abdominal surgery, one project in gynecology, and one project in the cardiovascular area.

On July 10, 2024, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) announced the submission of grant applications for research on patient-relevant outcomes and alternative forms of financing for innovative treatment under the Medical Specialist Care and Research (MedZO) program. The submission of grant applications will continue until October 15, 2024.

On June 21, 2024, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the determined funding priorities for healthcare research projects (eight topics) and clinical guidelines (three topics).

On April 25, 2024, the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Solidarity published an Order in the Official Journal of the French Republic setting the tariffs for digital medical devices with therapeutic functions covered within the early digital support (PECAN) scheme. The tariff for the manufacturer will include an initial lump sum of €435 per patient billable for up to 3 months and a subsequent monthly package of €38.30. The maximum amount of financial compensation is €780 per year per patient.