The report presents a summary of reimbursement situation for implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Both Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillator (CRT-D) are considered. Use of ICD is considered for ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. 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.

At the end of December 2018, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) decided that optical coherence tomography for the diagnosis and therapy control of several retinal diseases will be covered by the statutory health insurance.

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) released new decisions about add-on and medical aid reimbursement of medical devices from the meetings of the National Commission for Evaluation of Medical Devices and Health Technologies (CNEDiMTS) in January 2019. The decisions were made for eighteen medical devices.

In December 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new diagnostic guidance (for tumour profiling tests to guide adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early breast cancer), two new interventional procedure guidance (for transcutaneous neuromuscular electrical stimulation for oropharyngeal dysphagia in adults and bronchial thermoplasty for severe asthma), and four MedTech innovation briefings.

The report presents a summary of reimbursement situation for open replacement of heart valves (aortic, mitral, tricuspid and pulmonary). Report includes information about two types of prosthetic heart valves: biological valves, mechanical prosthetic valves. Open replacement of heart valves will be analyzed in conjunction with open coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). 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.

In January 2019, the Austrian HTA body Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute (LBI) has published the update of their decision support document (DSD) 103, which concerns the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator (WCD) therapy in primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest in patients at risk. The authors state that further research is necessary for the development of reliable conclusions.

The Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) group develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England. In October/November 2018 new code for bilateral US Doppler vascular limb was added to the CCSD Schedule.

New material code for the dynamic hip system was added to the List of reimbursable devices of the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) in January 2019.

In late 2018, the French Ministry of Health announced that the telemedicine pilot project “ETAPES” will be maintained for four more years.

The Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) group develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England. In October/November 2018, five new procedure codes for laser correction of refractive error following non-refractive ophthalmic surgery, insertion of urethral catheterization device, injection of botulinum toxin for hyperhidrosis, laparoscopic and robotic-assisted pancreatoduodenectomy have been added to the CCSD Schedule.

On December 27, 2018, the Belgian Official Gazette was updated. The update brought changes in chapter VIII of the Nomenclature, regarding the changing of the coding for flow reserve measurement.

In December 2018, the Andalusian Agency for Evaluation of Health Technologies, AETSA, has released a report on the effectiveness and safety of electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves for treating chronic refractory pain.