Radiofrequency ablation

The French National Authority for Health 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 in October 2022. Fourteen 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. Opinions concern cardiovascular, neurovascular, orthopedic, and ENT devices, as well as medical aids.

In the second half of October 2022, 47 new procedure codes were introduced by the Code Service of the Finnish National Health and Wellbeing Institution (THL). These codes became valid on November 1, 2022. The introduced codes are dedicated to diagnostic imaging, endoscopy, gastrointestinal, radiotherapy, pulmonary and airways, surgical procedures, and some other fields.

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.

The French National Authority for Health 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 in June 2022. Nineteen 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. Opinions concern cardiovascular, interventional radiology, orthopedic, neurovascular and neuromodulation, ophthalmology, as well as medical aids.

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 April 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published three new Interventional Procedure Guidance (repetitive short-pulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation for glaucoma, deep brain stimulation for chronic, severe, treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults, and Melphalan chemosaturation for primary or metastatic cancer in the liver) and two Medtech Innovation Briefings (microINR for anticoagulation therapy and RenalSense Clarity RMS for acute kidney injury), and two clinical guidelines (for atrial fibrillation and chronic pain in over 16s).

In March 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published four new Interventional Procedure Guidance (transcervical ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation for symptomatic uterine fibroids, extracorporeal whole liver perfusion, free-functioning gracilis transfer to restore upper limb function, cytoreduction surgery with hyperthermic intraoperative peritoneal chemotherapy), two Medical Technologies Guidance (Danis stent for acute oesophageal variceal bleeding, Alpha-Stim AID for anxiety disorders), two Medtech Innovation Briefings (Sonata system for symptomatic uterine fibroids, Butterfly iQ+ for diagnostic ultrasound), and one Diagnostic Guidance (QAngio XA 3D QFR and CAAS vFFR imaging software for assessing coronary stenosis). Also, five clinical guidelines were updated.

The report presents a summary of the reimbursement situation for the use of minimally invasive treatment of lung cancer in Europe. The following procedures ware considered under the scope of analysis: cryotherapy, microwave ablation, photodynamic therapy, radiofrequency ablation of lung. Open and VATS lobectomy will be considered as a comparator. The analysis covers procedure coding, payment mechanism, reimbursement tariffs and policy restrictions in 11 EU countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. It is also possible to add analysis in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Romania, Russia and Turkey.