Peripheral vascular interventions

On June 6, 2023, Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI/RIZIV) introduced a new convention to reimburse aspirational and mechanical thrombectomy catheters for arterial thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis, arteriovenous fistula, and pulmonary embolism. Funding will only be provided if there is a shortage of thrombolytic drugs in Belgium.

In April 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published seven new Interventional Procedure Guidance (concerned Daytime intraoral neuromuscular electrical tongue stimulation, endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage, maximal cytoreductive surgery in ovarian cancer, percutaneous thoracic duct embolization, radiofrequency ablation for spinal metastases, high-intensity focused ultrasound for prostate cancer), one new Medical Technologies Guidance (AposHealth for knee osteoarthritis), and one Medtech Innovation Briefing (Fasciotens for abdominal wall closure). Also, three clinical guidelines were updated.

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) released new recommendations about add-on reimbursement of medical devices and medical aids from the meetings of the National Commission for Evaluation of Medical Devices and Health Technologies (CNEDiMTS) in March 2023. Fifteen recommendations were published in relation to the registration, modification of registration conditions, and renewal of registration for devices in the List of reimbursable products and services (LPPR). Opinions concern cardiovascular and peripheral vascular, endocrine, endoscopy, gastrointestinal, surgical, and diagnostic imaging devices, as well as medical aids.

In March 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new Interventional Procedure Guidance (percutaneous transluminal renal sympathetic denervation for resistant hypertension, endoluminal gastroplication for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease), three new Health Technology Evaluations via piloted early value assessment approach (CaRi-Heart for predicting cardiac risk in suspected coronary artery disease, ProKnow cloud-based system for radiotherapy data storage, and Genedrive MT-RNR1 ID Kit for detecting a genetic variant), and two new MedTech Innovation Briefings (QBTest and BPMpathway). No new clinical guidelines were published.

In February 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new Interventional Procedure Guidance (transvenous obliteration for gastric varices, biodegradable spacer to reduce rectal toxicity during radiotherapy for prostate cancer), one new Health Technology Evaluation (guided self-help digital cognitive behavioural therapy), and two new Medtech Innovation Briefings (LIVERFASt, and Ambu aScope 4 RhinoLaryngo). Also, one new clinical guideline was published, and one was updated.

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) released new recommendations about add-on reimbursement of medical devices and medical aids from the meetings of the National Commission for Evaluation of Medical Devices and Health Technologies (CNEDiMTS) in February 2023. Twenty-eight recommendations were published in relation to the registration, modification of registration conditions, and renewal of registration for devices in the List of reimbursable products and services (LPPR). Opinions concern cardiovascular and peripheral vascular, neurovascular, ophthalmological, spine, and orthopedic devices, surgical procedures, as well as medical aids.

On January 25, 2023, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the decisions, recommending the transfer to standard care for another two completed projects. The projects relate to the improvement of the management of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAD) patients and the aftercare of pediatric patients suffering from chronic pain.

On January 30, 2023, the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) published the list of the requests for innovation funding (NUB) that were submitted by the hospitals in 2022. The medical technologies belonging to the cardiovascular, eHealth, gastrointestinal, neuromodulation, neurovascular, peripheral vascular, orthopedic, and other technology groups obtained positive status 1.

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) released new recommendations about add-on reimbursement of medical devices and medical aids from the meetings of the National Commission for Evaluation of Medical Devices and Health Technologies (CNEDiMTS) in January 2023. Twenty-four recommendations were published in relation to the registration, modification of registration conditions, and renewal of registration for devices in the List of reimbursable products and services (LPPR). Opinions concern cardiovascular and peripheral vascular, neurovascular, and orthopedic devices, in-vitro diagnostics, as well as medical aids.

On January 3, 2023, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) initiated the evaluation procedure concerning the method of renal denervation using ultrasound ablation in treatment-resistant hypertension (Paradise-System™ by ReCor Medical) within the framework of the early benefit assessment (in line with § 137h SGB V).

On January 1, 2023, the annual update of the Finnish NordDRG system came into force. There are 947 DRGs in the 2023 DRG system, compared to 930 DRGs in 2022. Among other changes, 34 new DRGs were introduced, including the DRGs in the cardiovascular, endocrine, endoscopy, gastrointestinal, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, peripheral vascular, surgical procedures, and some other fields.

On October 27, 2022, the BfArM (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) published the final version of the 2023 OPS procedure coding classification. The OPS, together with the ICD-10-GM (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, German Modification), forms the basis for the reimbursement systems in outpatient and inpatient care in Germany.