Radiotherapy

The Health Sciences Institute in Aragon (IACS) systematically evaluates healthcare technologies and facilitates the promotion of research, effective innovation, and decision-making in health services through knowledge management. Currently, the IACS is working on assessments of efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of intraoperative radiation therapy in breast cancer, determination of preeclampsia biomarkers SFlt-1 and PlGF, treatment of congenital ventricular septal defect by cardiac catheterization, and others.

On May 17, 2021, NHS England published an update of the Specialized Services Policy Pipeline (covering the period January 20, 2021 - April 20, 2021). One new Clinical Commissioning Policy related to radiotherapy was added to the work program, and four new policies related to radiotherapy were published in the period from January 20, 2021, to April 20, 2021. Two policies related to heart valve procedures and extracorporeal treatment were discontinued.

On February 24, 2021, NHS England published an update of the Specialized Services Policy Pipeline (covering period November 10, 2020 - February 10, 2021). Two new Clinical Commissioning Policies were added to the work program, and seven new policies were published, including stereotactic ablative radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery and proton therapy. The status of ongoing policies was updated as well.

In January 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new interventional procedure guidance (self-expanding implant insertion into the intersphincteric space for faecal incontinence and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy for early stage cervical cancer), two new medical technologies guidance (the PLASMA system for transurethral resection and haemostasis of the prostate, and the VAC Veraflo Therapy system for acute infected or chronic wounds), and six Medtech innovation briefings (Optilume for anterior urethral strictures, AI in mammography, AI for analyzing chest CT images, AcQMap for mapping the heart atria to target ablation treatment, and others). Also, two clinical guidelines were updated.

On January 07, 2021, NHS England published an update of the Specialized Services Policy Pipeline (covering the period October 19, 2020 - December 08, 2020). Two new Clinical Commissioning Policies were added to the work program, and six new policies related to radiotherapy, neurosurgery, pulmonology, and in-vitro diagnostics were published.

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.