The French High Authority for Health (HAS) regularly publishes new decisions about add-on reimbursement for medical devices. The decisions made in May 2020 concern various types of devices, including cardiovascular devices (self-expanding intracranial stents, TAVI), CT navigation kit for CT-guided percutaneous interventions and medical aids. A total of 8 decisions were made.

In May 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published only two new Medtech innovation briefings (for cytokine adsorption devices for treating respiratory failure in people with COVID-19 and space from Depression (SilverCloud) for treating adults with depression).

Since 2020 the use of Prostatic Urethral Lift will be covered by basic health insurance under specific clinical indications.

The German Society for Neurology (DGN) has published a new version of the S1 guideline "Syncope." It is valid until January 2025.

In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, NHSX looks for remote monitoring technology suppliers to help scale solutions across the UK. The organization invited technology companies to apply in a tender notice published on May 15.

New codes for Prostatic Urethral Lift system, CT and MRI examination of the neck, fecal microbiota transplant, testicular sperm extraction, implantable rechargeable and a non-rechargeable pulse generator for deep brain stimulation, as well as PET-CT myocardial perfusion with volume, ejection fraction and flow measurements and molecular diagnostics, were implemented in 2020.

On May 4, 2020, a new web platform called Brizzy entered the level 1 of the mHealthBelgium validation pyramid. Brizzy (class IIa) sleep testing device allows diagnosing respiratory sleep disorders efficiently and accurately and avoids the complexity and discomfort associated with traditional systems. The web platform allows for the analysis of the assessment of the collected data.

The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published the final report, in which it was studied whether wearing a lower jaw protrusion splint (Unterkieferprotrusionsschiene, UPS) is beneficial for obstructive sleep apnea. IQWiG issued the preliminary report in October 2019.

Public Health England has carried out a number of rapid evaluations of commercial serological tests for their suitability for detecting the production of COVID-19 antibodies. Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay and the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology assay were evaluated by Public Health England.

The application portal for inclusion in the directory of digital health apps (DiGA) at the Federal Office for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) has been online since May 27, 2020. The application, which can be submitted only electronically, is the first step for the respective health app to be reimbursed in the future as part of regular care.

In spring 2020, the French High Authority for Health, HAS, has announced the call for public consultation with the purpose of developing a draft functional classification of the digital solutions (for example, health apps, web platforms). The call ends on June 30, 2020.

As part of efforts to increase the effectiveness of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, the Ministry of Health of Russia informed suppliers, manufacturers and executive authorities that, subject to the rules for submitting documents for registration of medical devices intended for the diagnosis of coronavirus infection, their registration will be carried out as soon as possible deadlines.