In Sweden, the Priority Council of Skåne Region prepares and presents suggestions for new methods, routines, and treatments, to be included in the healthcare system. In April 2019, the HTA report for thrombectomy 6 to 24 hours after stroke was released. The health economic analysis showed that the use of thrombectomy during extended time frames is expected to be cost-saving in a socio-economic perspective and increases patient benefit measured in terms of won quality-adjusted life years.

The report presents a summary of reimbursement situation report for implantable drug infusion systems for chronic pain. The following indications will be considered: post-laminectomy syndrome, low back pain, complex regional pain syndrome, neoplasm related pain. 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 April 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published two new interventional procedure guidance for endoscopic ablation for an anal fistula and a pilonidal sinus, and two new MedTech innovation briefings for urine test for detecting bladder cancer in people with symptoms associated with malignancy and imaging software designed to help clinicians to diagnose and stage liver disease.

With the regional decree of April 23, 2019, Tuscany Regional Healthcare has published assessments of six medical devices belonging to various therapeutic areas, including a system for monitoring in heart failure, TAVI, glaucoma drainage system, intravascular lithotripsy system.

The report summarizes HTA landscape, role of HTA in reimbursement processes in individual countries, provides list of HTAs per country, HTA body and program, per type of technology. In total, 12 countries, 51 organizations and more than 850 reports are included. Sample pages are available for download.

In 2013, Norway established 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 April of 2019, the NIPH has released an HTA report for patent foramen ovale closure, antiplatelet or anticoagulation therapy alone for management of cryptogenic stroke commissioned by RHF Forum. Based on this HTA, the RHF Forum will make a decision regarding further implementation of current treatment method.

German IQWiG assessed vacuum therapy and published the report in late March 2019. Evaluation found statistically significant impact of therapy on wound healing, rate of reinterventions and length of hospital stay.

The HTA center of Swedish Västra Götaland region has published a report, which aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of EEG-based neurofeedback as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is uncertain whether the procedure compared with no or standard treatment reduces PTSD symptoms in adult patients. It is also uncertain whether the treatment results in any difference in suicidal thoughts, level of functioning, or medication use.

The report presents a summary of reimbursement situation for use of Embolic Protection Devices during percutaneous cardiac procedures (PCI and TAVI). 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.

The report presents a summary of reimbursement situation for diagnostic endoscopic procedures on the lower gastrointestinal tract for benign and malignant diseases in outpatient settings. The following procedures will be considered: colonoscopy, rectoscopy, anoscopy. 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.

Starting April 1, 2019, NHS England opens in a new window, and NHS Improvement comes together to act as a single organization.

On March 7, 2019, the Nomenclature was updated. The update brought changes in chapter V of Nomenclature, regarding the creation of new codes, deletion, and modification of existing codes. Changes mainly related to the in-vitro diagnostic testing.