In January 2020, the Reimbursement Commission made changes to the Healthcare Implementation Communique in Turkey. The main changes relate to the addition of new laboratory test codes, procedure codes, new devices related to the ophthalmology, and price changing of materials related to interventional radiology.

The HTA unit of the Lombardy region opens the possibility for the public to comment on the health technologies which are in the assessment phase. The call is open until February 28, 2020.

On the week of the 27th of January, MTRC published several posts related to the NABM procedure codes for IVD tests in France, the frequency of update of procedural classifications in Europe, and the least active countries in relation to the Med Tech HTA in Europe. Follow us on Instagram on @mtrc.market.access

Norway established in 2013 a framework “New Method” for the introduction of innovations into the health care system through either a national or hospital-based health technology assessment. In this framework, all innovations should undergo HTA before being funded. In January 2020, four new mini-HTA projects of medical technologies were launched in Norway: robotic-assisted procedures, ear reconstruction, continuous electroencephalography, among others.

From January 2020, the "Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score" test is reimbursed by the health insurance companies at an extra budget of 3,296.50€. This is explicitly the only test that the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) has included in the contracted medical care.

We have released the interview on the Market Access Insider channel on Youtube. Prof. Banfi gave an extensive introduction to the history and the current state of the health technology assessment in Italy. Also, the current state of the HTA program in Lombardy was discussed.

New material code for a set of nets for the repair of prolapse (for vaginal placement) was added to the List of reimbursable devices of the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) in January 2020.

In December 2019, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health released an HTA report regarding the effectiveness of uterine fibroids treatment commissioned by the Centre for joint decision-making to summarize the findings regarding this method. Embolization probably reduces the time that is needed to get back to the activity in comparison to myomectomy and hysterectomy.

On the week of the 20th of January, MTRC published several posts related to the barriers for the adoption of EUnetHTA reports for health technologies, countries with a global budget payment system, the timing of government-sponsored coverage with evidence development programs PHRC and PRME in France, market access implications of the political changes in Russia, and the algorithm to classify different design of the studies. Follow us on Instagram on @mtrc.market.access

The Swiss Services Ordinance (KLV/OPre) is the document that defines the health care services which are covered by the compulsory health insurance in Switzerland. It is updated annually (with more frequent updates possible); thus, the 2020 version is released. Changes concern autologous transplantation of chondrocytes, extracorporeal photopheresis, transcatheter aortic valve implantation, ultrasound therapy focused on the pallidum, thalamus and subthalamus, CAR-T cell therapies, tomography with positron emission (PET/CT), stereotactic radiation therapy (photons) of wet age-related macular degeneration.

In early January 2020, the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) has updated the national clinical guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with age-related cataracts.

In early January 2020, the network of European HTA agencies, EUnetHTA, announced the final plan of the project OTCA24 “The 24-hour blood pressure measurement device Mobil-O-Graph® with the built-in pulse wave velocity algorithm ARCSolver® to measure arterial stiffness for the optimization of hypertension treatment and assessment of cardiovascular risk”.