Radiotherapy

The revised EBM (German Uniform Evaluation Standard) catalog came into force on January 1, 2021. The most significant changes include the increase of the reimbursement base rate and the introduction of many new surcharge fees in the area of radiotherapy services.

In November 2020, the General Directorate of Basic Package of National Health System and Pharmacy Services published the Resolution on the agreement of the Commission of Benefits, Insurance, And Financing in relation to the proton therapy technique. The key points of the agreement include the recommendation for the creation of an interdisciplinary committee in each autonomous community to evaluate each specific case of proton therapy and therapeutic indications.

At the information meeting on October 13, 2020, Norwegian Directorate for e-Health presented planned changes in the coding system (NCSP-NCMP-NCRP) for 2021. Two new surgical procedure codes for laparoscopy, two new radiology procedure codes, and nine new medical procedure codes are proposed.

In July 2020, the network of European HTA agencies, EUnetHTA, announced a final project plan of the project OTCA25 “Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for lung, prostate, and liver cancer.”

A new guideline on follicular lymphoma (FL) has been published as part of the oncology guideline program. The guideline was developed by 64 experts from 21 specialist societies and organizations under the supervision of the German Society for Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO).

On June 16, 2020, HTA Austria – Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment (AIHTA), issued an updated report on the indications for proton and carbon ion therapy with an overview of confirmed indications, indications that are only recommended under clinical research, and excluded indications.

In June 2020, NHS England announced that it is accelerating the use of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) requiring fewer doses than standard radiotherapy, decreasing the number of hospital visits that potentially vulnerable patients need to undergo. It will now be available through the NHS by the end of the current financial year, rather than full rollout by 2022.

In April 2020, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) introduced four new nomenclature codes for stereotactic radiotherapy (Belgian Monitor of April 27, 2020). Physicians also must register data on provided stereotactic radiotherapy series in the specific module of Cancer Registry Foundation.

The report presents a summary of the reimbursement situation for minimally invasive treatment of prostate cancer in Europe. The following procedures are considered under the scope of analysis: high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), cryoablation, focal laser ablation, radiofrequency ablation, microwave thermal ablation of the prostate. Open and laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, as well as external radioation therapy and low-dose-rate barchytherapy, are considered as comparators. 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.

In late November 2019, the network of European HTA agencies, EUnetHTA, announced the final plan of the project OTCA23 “Biodegradable rectum spacers to reduce toxicity for prostate cancer.”

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including radiotherapy technologies. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for radiotherapy devices in Europe.

In August 2019, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has released an HTA report regarding the effectiveness of treatment for localized prostate cancer commissioned by the Centre for joint decision-making to summarize the findings regarding this method. The effectiveness of the several treatment methods is unknown due to the lack of evidence. There is little or no difference in survival after radical prostatectomy compared to low-dose-rate brachytherapy.