The Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre and the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Care innovation have signed an agreement to invest 6 million euros in the pilot project Belgium-Netherlands Funding of International Trials (BeNeFIT) for conduction of comparative, practice-oriented clinical studies which is relevant to patients, caregivers and policymakers in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In the second half of November, French HAS published new set of decisions for add-on reimbursement: four positive decisions for orthopedic medical devices, two negative decisions for coronary stents and two positive decisions for cochlear implant and kit for wheelchair.

The changes of the DBC package for specialist medical care in 2019 (RZ19a) will include pediatric oncology, proton therapy, and telemedicine.

Eight new medical procedure codes for obstetric, urological, gynecological and vascular interventions will be added to the Swedish Classification of non-surgical medical interventions (KMÅ) in 2018.

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has published its final plan for the benefit assessment of motor-driven movement splints (CPM) after interventions on the knee joint and on the shoulder joint. IQWiG was commissioned with this task by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA). Two manufacturers and relevant associations had used the opportunity of commenting on the preliminary project plan.

Emilia Romagna Region announced the launch of two new series of documents, according to the new regional assessment framework for medical devices developed during 2017: rapid assessment reports and preliminary information reports.

Eight new surgical procedure codes for otorhinolaryngologic, colorectal and orthopedic interventions will be added to the Swedish Classification of surgical interventions (KKÅ) in 2018.

A 61-page reimbursement report covers atherectomy for peripheral artery disease in hospital settings. The analysis covers procedure coding, payment mechanism, reimbursement tariff and policy restrictions. The report provides an overview of reimbursement situation in 11 EU countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Emilia Romagna Region published a preliminary information report on the CytoSorb® device, an extracorporeal cytokine adsorber for the reduction of circulating cytokines in the blood stream.

CEO of the MTRC, Dr. Oleg Borisenko will attend the "MedTech Access Leaders Forum" 5-7 of December in Berlin. Please, write to info@mtrconsult.com if you would be interested to arrange a meeting to discuss your market access needs in Europe. 

The Dutch National Health Care Institute considered that application of one-way endobronchial valves for endobronchial lung volume reduction fulfills the criteria of “state of science and practice” for patients with severe emphysema and insufficiency of drug treatment. Therefore, this procedure can be included into a basic package for appropriate indication.