Treatment of prostate

In October 2023, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclatures for private payers in England, published Bulletins with changes to be implemented no later than December 7, 2023. Eight new procedure codes (concerning endoscopy, gastrointestinal, interventional radiology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, and men's health) and three new diagnostic codes were introduced.

In October 2023, the Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology in Örebro is working on several HTAs, including evaluations in e-health, ICU/OR, men’s health, orthopedic fields, and other fields.

In September 2023, the Skåne University Hospital is working on several HTAs, including evaluations in the cardiovascular, diagnostic imaging, men’s health, neurology and neurosurgery fields

On March 31, 2022, NHS Digital released HRG4+ Local Payment Grouper for 2022/23 for use from April 01, 2022. In general, there are significant changes in base HRG design. A total of 120 new HRGs were created, and multiple HRGs were removed, so the total number increased by 62 from 2,838 to 2,900.

On December 17, 2021, NHS Digital released HRG4+ Consultation Grouper for 2022/23. This release is used to support the NHS England and Improvement consultation process for the 2022/23 National Tariff Payment System. In general, there are significant changes in base HRG design. A total of 120 new HRGs were created, multiple HRGs were removed, and the grouping logic was updated significantly. This Consultation Grouper will be superseded by the 2022/23 Local Payment Grouper in March 2022, for use from April 01, 2022.

In July 2021, the Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment (AIHTA) published six new decision support documents and one update to a previous decision support document. The assessed topics included percutaneous left ventricular assist devices, liposuction for surgical therapy of lipoedema, triphasic biomaterial for augmentation of the osteoporotic femoral neck, endoscopic plication therapy in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), allogenic bone screw Shark Screw® in patients with hallux valgus or scaphoid fractures/pseudarthroses, and surgical interventions for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. The updated decision support document concerned implantable bulking agents for fecal incontinence.

In late April 2021, the European Network for Health Technology Assessment, EUnetHTA, in partnership with the Austrian Institute for HTA (AIHTA), released a final report on the comparative effectiveness of surgical techniques and devices for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Twenty-one minimally invasive surgical treatments for benign prostatic hyperplasia were compared. Newer technologies may offer some advantage over transurethral resection of the prostate by reducing the transfusion requirement.

At the end of November 2019, the report of the project OTCA17, titled “Lithium triborate (LBO) laser for photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)” was published on the website of the European Network for HTA (EUnetHTA).

In September 2019, Regional Methods Council of South East healthcare region released a report where compared the prostate artery embolization (PAE) for benign prostatic hyperplasia with the transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). It was outlined that costs and the need for blood transfusions for PAE are lower than for TURP. The use of registries for follow-up of patients and registration of side effects is strongly recommended.

The report presents a summary of the reimbursement situation for use of minimally invasive treatment of benign prostate enlargement in Europe. The following procedures will be considered under the scope of analysis: transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT), Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP), photoselective vaporization of the prostate, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), Urolift, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) 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.

On March 15, 2019, the Swiss Medical Board published two appraisal reports: “Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery for radical prostatectomy” and “Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery versus conventional laparoscopic surgery for simple or radical hysterectomy.”

In January 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published six new interventional procedure guidance, three medical technologies guidance, and three new MedTech innovation briefings for liver function capacity test, a functional electrical stimulation (FES) integrated cycling system used to start muscle contraction to stimulate trunk and limb muscles in people with spinal cord injury, laser shoe attachment used as a walking aid and is designed to help prevent freezing of gait in people with Parkinson's disease.