Patients who have undergone mastectomy for the breast cancer or as a preventive measure can now benefit from better reimbursement of autologous tissue breast reconstruction if it is performed in a hospital that has an agreement with INAMI.

The article "Patient Characteristics, Procedural and Safety Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery in England: a Retrospective Cohort Study—2006–2012" published in Obesity Surgery reviews the UK experience with bariatric surgery.

Following the request of a patient organization, the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA) evaluated the newborn screening for tyrosinemia type I by tandem mass spectrometry and decided to include the method into the relevant guideline. Before the method can be applied and reimbursed in the statutory health insurance (SHI) in Germany, the Genetic Diagnostics Act requires approval by the Genetic Diagnostics Commission (GEKO).

In the first half of October, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published one new Technology appraisal guidance (for autologous chondrocyte implantation for treating symptomatic articular cartilage defects of the knee) and four new Medtech innovation briefings for PleuraFlow Active Clearance Technology for maintaining chest tube patency, Mepilex Border dressings for preventing pressure ulcers, Thora-3Di for assessing asthma in children and Memokath-028, 044 and 045 stents for urethral obstruction.

In accordance with Health Insurance Act (Zvw) and Long-term Care Act (Wlz) the basic package of insured health care includes only health care that fulfills the criteria of “state of science and practice”. In September 2017, ZIN published opinion paper on the basis of reevaluation of the procedure. It was only recommended for coverage for non-resectable colorectal liver metastases. Other indications were not approved for coverage.

In June of 2017, the Ordering Forum RHF commissioned rapid method assessment for the Prosigna test. Only when the Norwegian Institute of Public Health receives documentation from the suppliers they carry out a quick method assessment. On 16th of the October, suppliers were requested to submit data to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) regarding clinical efficacy, safety and economics of Prosigna test.

On 13th of October of 2017, the Ministry of Health of Poland commissioned Agency of Health Technology Assessment and Tariff Systems (AOTMiT) to assess the benefit of angioplasty of arteries of lower extremities (femoral and popliteal) with drug-eluting balloons.

The analyses were performed on the 2015 data from 16 Regions, on the basis of 35 indicators. According to the score assigned, Regions were classified as “compliant” (i.e., score ≥ 160 or between 140 and 160 with no critical values in any of the indicators) or “non-compliant” (i.e., score < 140 or between 140 and 160 with at least one critical value in one of the indicators). Overall results showed that the Country is split into two sections: Regions in the north were all compliant while those in the south, with the only exception of Basilicata, showed suboptimal performances.

The Clinical Coding and Schedule Development Group develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England. New codes were added for ophthalmology, skin surgery, treatment of anal fistula.

In the second two weeks of September, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published 2 new and 3 updated clinical, four new Interventional Procedures Guidance (for intramuscular diaphragm stimulation for ventilator-dependent chronic respiratory failure caused by high spinal cord injuries and motor neurone disease, ab externo canaloplasty for primary open-angle glaucoma, high-intensity focused ultrasound for symptomatic breast fibroadenoma), and 3 Medtech innovation briefings (Farco-fill Protect, Caris Molecular Intelligence for guiding cancer treatment and Aptiva for painful diabetic neuropathy).

French National Authority for Health (HAS) released new decisions about add-on and medical aid reimbursement of medical devices from the meetings of the National Commission for Evaluation of Medical Devices and Health Technologies (CNEDiMTS) in September 2017. They include knee and hip prostheses, therapeutic shoes, coronary stents, heart valves, peripheral stents, and balloons.

SIRT is not routinely commissioned in England. In 2013 NHS England commissioned an evaluation of SIRT for colorectal liver metastases and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma within registry in England, complemented by systematic literature review and de novo economic analysis (Commissioning Through Evaluation). In July 2017, NICE prepared a final report for NHS England, which was made public on 12th of October 2017.