The 13 innovations joining the NHS Innovation Accelerator were announced on March 5, 2019, as part of an event to launch the fourth year of this award-winning national accelerator.

The report presents a summary of reimbursement situation for sacral nerve stimulation. The following indications will be considered: urge urinary incontinence, retention of urine, faecal incontinence. 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.

With a regional decree of March 7, 2019, Tuscany Regional Healthcare has published assessments of seventeen medical devices belonging to various therapeutic areas.

On the 16th of February of 2019, the approval for financing of WISE CRT system in a framework of “forfait innovation” program was released in the Official French Gazette. This financing is provided for the 48-months period; it includes the amount of €25,600 and cannot be combined with other benefits. It is fully covered by the compulsory health insurance schemes.

On March 15, 2019, the Swiss Medical Board published two appraisal reports: “Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery for radical prostatectomy” and “Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery versus conventional laparoscopic surgery for simple or radical hysterectomy.”

The Health Institute Carlos III published a report titled Analysis of the efficacy and safety of peripheral neurostimulators of the sphenopalatine ganglion for the treatment of refractory chronic clusters headache.

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) regularly publishes new decisions about add-on reimbursement for medical devices. The decisions made in March 2019 concern various types of devices, including orthopedic, cardiovascular (coronary stents), ENT and other products.

In late March 2019, the Italian Minister of Health announced that the European Commission has decided to adopt the Italian national classification system for medical devices for the database at European level.

The NHS Long Term Plan announced, on March 7, 2019, that the NHS will ensure that patients with type 1 diabetes will benefit from life changing flash glucose monitors from April 2019. This will end the variation patients in some parts England are facing. The new guidance sets out the criteria for flash glucose monitoring and the maximum amounts CCGs will be reimbursed for the ongoing costs of the flash glucose sensors.

The Health Institute Carlos III published a report on efficiency and safety analysis of orthodontic-orthopedic devices for maxillary expansion as an alternative to adenotonsillectomy and/or pharmacological treatment for Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome.

In early 2019, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed to support HTA in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Memorandum of understanding establishes a collaborative approach to the identification and assessment of new health technologies between Health Information and Quality Authority Ireland, Health Technology Assesment Group Ireland, Health Technology Wales, and the Scottish Health Technology Group. These bodies assess and give guidance on health technologies within their national healthcare systems.

In late March 2019, the Italian Ministry of Health has published a new document on medical device governance. The document presents the guidelines for a new governance of medical devices, which aims at the efficient allocation of the NHS resources, the sustainability of innovation, the strengthening of supervision and the transparency of actions and reports concerning the procurement and use of medical devices.