Recently the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWIG) published final report of evaluation extracorporeal shock wave therapy in patients with heel pain. On 31st of May, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) requested manufacturers for notification of their devices for extracorporeal shock wave therapy before final decision will be given.

The Care Institute Netherlands (Zorginstituut Nederland) has released information that real-time continuous glucose monitoring is now included into the basic health insurance package for two additional groups of patients suffered from diabetes: women with diabetes who wish to become pregnant and patients with type 1 diabetes with repeated severe hypoglycemia.

New publication in Obesity Facts provides insights into cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery in Italy ("Cost-Utility Analysis of Bariatric Surgery in Italy: Results of Decision-Analytic Modelling"). Bariatric surgery was found to be cost effective at 10-year and cost saving at lifetime time horizon.

The Ministry of Health and Care Services has decided to transfer management tasks related to the medical device area from Norwegian Directorate of Health to the Norwegian Medicines Agency from 1 January 2018.

Eleven national population screening programmes are implemented in the NHS on the advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which makes independent, evidence-based recommendations to ministers in the 4 UK countries. The Screening Quality Assurance Service ensures programmes are safe and effective by checking that national standards are met. Changes in 2017 are related to KPIs for bowel, breast, and cervical cancer screening.

HAS published updated program that defines priority areas of work for 2017, including evidence review as part of developing new procedure codes for robotic surgery, endoscopic procedures, and technology assessments of remote monitoring, dialysis, coronary stents and others.

BCG published an overview of the study, including survey and interview of several thousand med tech professionals and executives. Among recommendations of the new study are focus on value-based health care, digitalization and low-cost products and services. The study strengthens the importance of market access for Med Tech companies.

In second two weeks of May, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published two Medtech Innovation Briefings (collagen paste for anal fistulae and portable pulse‑echo ultrasound device to assist diagnosis of osteoporosis) one Interventional Procedure Guidance for endoscopic full thickness removal of non-lifting colonic polyps.

MTRC has developed a comprehensive introductory course in European market access. Course has duration between few hours and one day and takes place on your site. Topics include payment mechanisms, reimbursement pathways, role of HTA, economic argumentation and others. The cost is 5,000 euros irrespective of number of participants and duration of the course.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Scientific Advice service is launching an online tool to help developers of medical devices and diagnostics understand and generate the evidence needed to show their products are clinically and cost effective. This will help companies prepare for a dialogue with health technology assessment organisations and payers and potentially speed up time to market.

Although the report excluded medical technologies from scope, it includes useful information about the concept of innovative payment schemes, taxonomy, challenges of such approaches and provides an overview of international experience.