Pulmonology procedures

In December 2022, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released six MedTech-related reports in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal, which concerned laser therapy in diabetic macular oedema, EarlyCDT Lung blood test, video-assisted thoracoscopic or open lobectomy, urethral slings for stress urinary incontinence, placental growth factor (PlGF) and sFlt-1 tests, and photobiomodulation in the management of oral mucositis. HTA Journal publishes research reports on the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage, and provide care in the NHS and informs National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

On November 30, 2022, the entity managing the DRG system in Switzerland, SwissDRG, has published the final version of the 2023 DRG system. In total, 21 new DRGs were introduced, and they concern cardiovascular, ENT, gastrointestinal, gynecology, neurovascular, pulmonary, and some other technology groups. Also, three new add-on reimbursement categories were introduced.

On October 17, 2022, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the decision, recommending the transfer to standard care for another completed project. The project relates to the improvement of the management of cancer patients.

On July 15, 2022, the Austrian Institute for HTA (AIHTA) published five decision support documents, which provide recommendations regarding the inclusion of new medical interventions in the catalog of individual medical services of the performance-oriented hospital financing (Leistungsorientierten Krankenanstaltenfinanzierung, LKF) model, as well as four updates to previous decision support documents. The decisions relate mainly to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal technology groups.

In March 2022, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published five new Interventional Procedure Guidance (endoscopic balloon dilation for subglottic or tracheal stenosis, intramedullary distraction for lower limb lengthening, endoscopic full thickness removal of gastrointestinal stromal tumors of the stomach, percutaneous insertion of a cystic duct stent after cholecystostomy, and liposuction for chronic lipoedema), four new Medical Technologies Guidance (myCOPD, UroShield, Prontosan for wounds, and 3C Patch for diabetic foot ulcers), one new Diagnostic Guidance (terminated assessment of Freelite assays for multiple myeloma), and six new Medtech Innovation Briefings (Genedrive MT-RNR1 ID System, icobrain for multiple sclerosis, Al for analyzing chest X-ray images, and others). Also, three new clinical guidelines were published, and six were updated.

In February 2022, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new Interventional Procedure Guidance (stereotactic radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia, and microwave ablation for primary or metastatic cancer in the lung), two new Diagnostic Guidance (EarlyCDT Lung for assessing the risk of lung cancer in solid lung nodules, PredictSURE IBD and IBDX to guide treatment of Crohn's disease), and four new Medtech Innovation Briefings (Insides System for managing intestinal failure, d-Nav insulin management app for type 2 diabetes, GaitSmart for personalized exercise rehabilitation, AposHealth for knee osteoarthritis)

In March 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement published the MedTech Funding Mandate (MTFM) policy for 2022/23, which will come into force on April 01, 2022. The MTFM launched in 2021 to support NICE-approved and cost-saving devices, diagnostics, and digital products. Commissioners must fund technologies included in MTFM.

In early December 2021, NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative announced seven technologies that will be covered by the MedTech Funding Mandate (MTFM) in 2022/23: four for benign prostatic hyperplasia treatment (UroLift, GreenLight XPS, Rezum, and PLASMA system), and three for improving the patient experience during procedures (XprESS multi-sinus dilation system, Thopaz+, and Spectra Optia). Four technologies included in 2021/22 (placental growth factor-based testing, SecurAcath, HeartFlow, and gammaCore) will continue to be supported.

In late November 2021, the INeK (Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System) has published the DRG catalog (Fallpauschalen-Katalog) with the list of DRGs and add-on reimbursement categories (ZEs) for 2022. Seven new DRGs and seventeen ZE categories were added to the catalog in 2022.

In November 2021, the National Board of Health and Welfare released an annual update of the Swedish procedure coding classification (Classification of Health Care Measures, KVÅ) that will come into force in January 2022. KVÅ includes two parts – medical procedures (KMÅ) and surgical procedures (KKÅ) divided into chapters based on anatomical principles. In 2022, six new surgical procedure codes will be introduced. Furthermore, structural changes will be made in Chapter V "Operations on the aorta, peripheral vessels, and lymphatic system," introducing two new sub-chapters with 318 new codes. A total of 53 new medical procedure codes (KMÅ) will be added.

In late October 2021, the BfArM (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices) has published the final version of the 2022 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 late September 2021, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England, has published Bulletins 0179 and 0076 with changes to be implemented no later than January 01, 2022. Four new procedure codes related to gynecology, robotic surgery in the pulmonology area, and orthopedics, and four new diagnostic codes were introduced.