In late November 2019, the network of European HTA agencies, EUnetHTA, announced the final plan of the project OTCA23 “Biodegradable rectum spacers to reduce toxicity for prostate cancer.”

In December 2019, the Swiss Medical Tariff Commission (MTK/CTM) has published their recommendations regarding the knee Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI). The CTM recommends covering the costs of the implant for knee ACI until the end of 2024.

In November 2019, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new diagnostics guidance (for point-of-care creatinine devices and rapid tests for group A streptococcal infections), one new interventional procedure guidance (for irreversible electroporation for primary liver cancer) and two new MedTech innovation briefings (for Leukomed Sorbact for preventing surgical site infection and AmnioSense for unexplained vaginal wetness in pregnancy).

On the 10th of December 2019, the Austrian HTA body, the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute (LBI-HTA) has released a report on the implementation of an HPV screening test for the early detection of cervical cancer in women as a measure of cervical cancer prevention. The recommendations are positive.

At the end of November 2019, the company in charge of the development of the DRG system in Switzerland, SwissDRG SA, has announced the tariff versions (2020/2020) of the DRG and the add-on reimbursement catalog.

In late November 2019, new HTA activities were published on the website of regional HTA program of Lombardy Region, after a period of inactivity. Twenty-six (26) new technologies are currently in various stages of the HTA process, and they should all be completed in 2020.

At the end of November 2019, the report of the project OTCA17, titled “Lithium triborate (LBO) laser for photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)” was published on the website of the European Network for HTA (EUnetHTA).

On October 29, 2019, the NHS England updated the clinical commissioning work programs including clinical commissioning policy work program, specialized commissioning service specification work program, commissioning through evaluation work programs.

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) regularly publishes new decisions about add-on reimbursement for medical devices. The decisions made in November 2019 concern various types of devices, including orthopaedic, and cardiovascular devices. A total of twenty-four decisions were made.

In November 2019, the Skåne Region released an HTA report for arthroscopic subacromial decompression (ASD) in subacromial pain syndrome that aimed to evaluate the scientific evidence for the procedure. It was concluded that the degree of clinical evidence is limited due to lack of study quality; the certain safety conclusions cannot be drawn due to the data diversity.

With the support of Aaron.ai, the first health application from the project “KBV Future Practice” ("KBV-Zukunftspraxis") was launched in Germany. About 50 medical practices are now testing the smart telephone assistant in their daily work. The evaluation of the practical tests is carried out by the Charité.

In October 2019, the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS) has released an assessment report regarding the evaluation strategies to prevent urinary tract infections associated with urethral/urinary catheters in critical patients in Intensive Care Units. The evidence is not conclusive, but there is scientific evidence that aims for the introduction of review measures for the indication of indwelling urethral/urinary catheters, its use in decubitus, and without kinking.