Ophthalmological procedures

At the end of December 2018, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) decided that optical coherence tomography for the diagnosis and therapy control of several retinal diseases will be covered by the statutory health insurance.

The Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) group develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England. In October/November 2018, five new procedure codes for laser correction of refractive error following non-refractive ophthalmic surgery, insertion of urethral catheterization device, injection of botulinum toxin for hyperhidrosis, laparoscopic and robotic-assisted pancreatoduodenectomy have been added to the CCSD Schedule.

In mid-June, 2018, the Catalan Agency for Quality and Healthcare Evaluation, AQuAS, published the Clinical Practice Guidelines for open-angle glaucoma.

On the 26th of April of 2018, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) has announced the call for a tender for the pilot study “Transcorneal Electrical Stimulation in Retinitis Pigmentosa” in the Official Journal of the European Union. The deadline for the requests is the 22nd of June, 2018, 14:00

After successful trial application by the manufacturer (Okuvision) of a stimulation technology (Okustim), the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) decided on a trial guideline for a co-funded study defining the key points of the planned study, including type and time period of the study, target population and control intervention. Results from the trial will be evaluated and may lead to reimbursement of the method in both, the inpatient and outpatient sectors.