In Sweden, the Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology (CAMTÖ) leads the development of HTA cooperation in the healthcare region Uppsala-Örebro. In February 2020, CAMTÖ started its work on the assessment of peripherally inserted central venous catheter. After the completion of the evaluation process, the report would be published at the web-site of Örebro County Council.

In late 2019, the Nomenclature was updated. The update brought changes regarding the creation of new codes, deletion of codes, modification of existing codes, and the addition of new reimbursement conditions in the fields of dentistry, ophthalmology (including new codes for optical coherence tomography) and others.

In Norway, the mini-HTA for Localizer™ wire-free guidance system designed to mark and guide to non-palpable breast lesions was released at the end of January 2020. The method was determined as efficient and safe. It was recommended to be introduced as part of the clinical routine in the hospital.

The report presents a summary of the reimbursement situation for diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures on the knee joint in osteoarthrosis in Europe. The following procedures are considered: a diagnostic endoscopic examination of knee joint with or without biopsy; endoscopic removal of a loose body from knee joint; endoscopic lavage of knee joint. 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 the 27th of February, MTRC Director Dr Oleg Borisenko presented at the roundtable on value-based health care and access to medical devices in Moscow, Russia.

In February 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new diagnostics guidance (for SepsiTest assay for rapidly identifying bloodstream bacteria and fungi), one new medical technologies guidance (for Episcissors-60 for mediolateral episiotomy) and two Medtech innovation briefings (for Plus Sutures for preventing surgical site infection and National Early Warning Score systems that alert to deteriorating adult patients in hospital).

On the 1st of February, 2020, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-SV) have made the agreement for laboratory diagnostic clarification about the novel coronavirus. Afterwards, the statutory health insurance companies will cover the costs of the test for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) if there are justified suspected cases.

The Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) group develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England. New procedure codes concern repair of femoral hernia requiring removal of previously inserted mesh, transurethral non-ablative radiofrequency of bladder, minimally invasive mitral valve repair, two-stage revision of total hip replacement for infection and others. The codes are introduced with a recommended adoption date being the 1st of May 2020. The document also contains a list of textual changes in codes, unacceptable combinations, and inactivated codes. There were no changes to the CCSD Schedule of Diagnostic Tests.

On the 17th of February 2020, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) invited external stakeholders to suggest topics and criteria for future funding. Moreover, the submission of proposals for members of the new pool of experts was announced.

The General Director of Lombardy Healthcare released a decree no. 916 of 29.1.2020. The decree contains several important notices, the most important one being that the “Rules of the regional HTA commission” was published. In the first half of February 2020, it was published on the website of the regional HTA program of the Lombardy region.

Changes of structure in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England were announced: in April 2020, 14 NHS England (Region, Local Offices) will be replaced by 42 sustainability and transformation partnerships as the Higher Level Health Authority in the organization reference data. The number of CCGs would also be changed (135 CCGs would leave).

The patients diagnosed with osteoporosis requiring medication will be able to receive care within a structured treatment program (disease management program, DMP). The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) decided in mid-January 2020 the details of participation and the various aspects of care.