In September 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published three new interventional procedure guidance (for implant insertion for prominent ears, high-intensity focused ultrasound for glaucoma, and bioprosthetic plug insertion for anal fistula) and five new MedTech innovation briefings (for SuperNO2VA for the relief of upper airway obstruction in people with obstructive sleep apnoea, The V.A.C. Veraflo Therapy system for infected wounds, UroShield for preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections, InterDry for intertrigo, and Alpha-Stim AID for anxiety).

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including neuromodulation technologies. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for neuromodulation devices in Europe.

In mid-September 2019, the report of the project OTCA19, titled “Screening for osteoporosis in the general population” was published on the website of the European Network for HTA (EUnetHTA).

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including nephrology and urology technologies. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for nephrology and urology devices in Europe.

In September 2019, the Andalusian Health Technology Assessment Department (AETSA) has released an assessment report regarding the evaluation of PET scan usefulness in non-oncological indications. The performed analysis showed that the quality of available systematic reviews related to the issue is generally low and, in some cases, moderate. The high-quality reviews, which conclude that routine use cannot be recommended, were found only for the indication of cognitive impairment with suspected Alzheimer's disease.

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including in-vitro and in-vivo diagnostics tests. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for in-vitro and in-vivo diagnostics tests in Europe.

The report presents a summary of the reimbursement situation for a number of therapeutic endoscopic procedures on esophagus in Europe, including: endoscopic mucosal resection of lesion of esophagus; endoscopic submucosal resection of lesion of esophagus; endoscopic radiofrequency ablation of lesion of esophagus; endoscopic injection sclerotherapy to varices of esophagus; endoscopic balloon dilation of esophagus; endoscopic insertion of stent into esophagus. 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.

The report presents a summary of the reimbursement situation for lithotripsy for kidney stones in Europe. The following types of procedure are considered: extracorporeal shock wave therapy; intracorporeal (endoscopic) lithotripsy with different type of energy used. 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.

The insurance company AOK Saxony-Anhalt concluded that patients are much less frequently prescribed an antibiotic after the examination via a rapid test for a bacterial cause of the infection. In more than 40% of the tested patients, the doctors waived the antibiotics prescription.

MTRC has developed three reports on the key market access topics, including innovation funding, health technology assessment and funding frameworks for medical devices. These reports help to understand the relevance of these frameworks to certain types of medical technologies, including gastrointestinal technologies. This post provides some key facts about the HTA, funding and innovation payment landscape for gastrointestinal devices in Europe.

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.

In Finland, the Health Care Services Selection Council is responsible for making recommendations regarding the research, treatment, and rehabilitation methods. Currently, PALKO is working on the only one assessment related to medical technologies - rehabilitation and treatment of lumbar spine dislocation. In the final report, the Council would conclude whether the procedure is a part of publicly funded services or not.