UK

In March 2021, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in England released six MedTech-related reports in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal, which concerned sacral nerve stimulation and magnetic sphincter augmentation device for fecal incontinence treatment, patch augmentation surgery for rotator cuff repair, in-vitro diagnostics, and eHealth. 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 inform National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

On March 08, 2021, Academic Health Science Networks (ASHN) announced twelve innovators ("Fellows") and innovations selected to join NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) award-winning program in 2021. NIA is an NHS England and Improvement initiative delivered in partnership with England's 15 AHSNs, hosted at UCLPartners. All awarded technologies are related to eHealth, including digital platforms, mobile applications, artificial intelligence (AI), wearables for home-based diagnostic.

In March 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 0175 and 0072 with changes to be implemented not later than May 01, 2021. Six new procedure codes related to gynecology, capsule endoscopy, and intracranial stereotactic radiotherapy were introduced. No changes were made in diagnostic test coding.

Starting April 2021, a significant change of the payment system for specialist care is expected in England. Most of the activity-based funding will be replaced by a blended payment model, including a fixed payment component and a variable component. All agreements will be made locally between commissioners and providers. This will be the next step towards abolishing activity-based (HRG-based) reimbursement according to the NHS Long-Term Plan.

In late February 2021, the Delen collaboration platform of NHS Digital issued 2021 National Clinical Coding Standards (NCCS) OPCS-4.9 and ICD-10 reference books that must be used during the procedure and diagnosis coding from April 01, 2021. The updates mainly concerned endoscopic procedures, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) of the liver, peripheral vascular procedures using stents and stent-grafts, gynecological procedures using meshes, and bone densitometry.

On February 23, 2021, NHSX launched Digital Technology Assessment Criteria for health and social care (DTAC), the new national criteria designed to provide suppliers and healthcare organizations a clear direction on building and buying good digital health technologies. DTAC will apply to all types of digital health technologies, from public-facing health apps to digital systems used within hospitals. The assessment criteria are focused on five areas: digital technologies will receive a pass or fail in four categories - clinical safety, data protection, technical security and interoperability, and a score on usability and accessibility.

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 February 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new medical technologies guidance (Leukomed Sorbact for preventing surgical site infection) and seven new Medtech innovation briefings (PROPEL sinus implants, URO17 for detecting bladder cancer, Faecal microbiota transplant, DOAC Dipstick for detecting oral anticoagulants, CytoSorb for reducing the risk of bleeding during cardiac surgery, and others).

Healthcare Improvement Scotland develops HTAs and clinical guidelines to support decision-making. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Healthcare Improvement Scotland published assessments of continuous glucose monitoring in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, endobronchial valves for lung volume reduction in patients with severe emphysema, and other topics.

In February 2021, NICE announced the launch of a new 5-year strategic plan that will be presented at the virtual event on April 19, 2021. Registration is free but mandatory to attend the event.

NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) approved the merging of 38 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to create nine new CCGs that will take effect from April 2021. After these changes take place, the total number of CCGs will be 106.

In February 2021, NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) published an "Our year in focus 2019/20" report. In 2019/20, AAC programs supported over 2,500 innovations. The report provides information regarding AAC achievements in their priority areas and identifies future development of innovation funding programs.