In January 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published three new Interventional Procedure Guidance (intravascular lithotripsy in peripheral arterial disease, temperature control after cardiac arrest, and pharyngeal electrical stimulation for neurogenic dysphagia) and one new Diagnostics Guidance (AI-derived software to help clinical decision making in stroke). Furthermore, one Diagnostics Guidance and five clinical guidelines were updated.

On January 30, 2024, the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) published the list of the requests for innovation funding (NUB) that were submitted by the hospitals in 2023. The medical technologies of cardiovascular, ENT, extracorporeal, gastrointestinal, neuromodulation, and other technology groups obtained positive status 1.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Groene et al. conducted a comprehensive evaluation of Germany's pioneering policy to include digital health applications in the statutory health insurance system, aiming to assess its impact, highlight challenges, and propose prospective policy options. Through analysis of publicly available data from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices and empirical findings published by academic institutions and sickness funds, the authors delineated areas for improvement, such as low prescription rates and temporary reimbursement of applications that lack proven benefit. The authors advocated for value-based pricing and increased budget authority for insurance organizations to foster innovation while ensuring optimal resource allocation in healthcare.

In January 2024, the Ministry of Health and Prevention published the Order in the Official Journal of the French Republic updating the cancer screening programs. The new Order replaces the previous one from September 2006 and specifies the implementation conditions for the organized screening programs for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers.

In a new White Paper, MTRC identified evidence requirements for national add-on reimbursement via the LPPR List process based on analysis of five recent HAS reports with positive recommendations. Cases included technologies with different levels of added clinical value (II, III, IV, and V). A review of five cases is followed by recommendations in relation to evidence generation for medical technologies in France, and factors influencing the decision-making of HAS. The analysis was performed in February 2024.

On February 5, 2024, NICE published proposed methods and processes to include technology appraisal recommendations in the clinical guidelines and launched a consultation. The deadline for submitting comments is March 15, 2024.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Sharma et al. investigated the state and adoption of Hospital Based Health Technology Assessment (HB-HTA) in hospital management. By administering questionnaires to healthcare professionals, the authors aimed to assess HTA knowledge and analyze perspectives. The results revealed a notable interest in HB-HTA as a strategic tool for supporting clinical and organizational decision-making processes, particularly in the evolving healthcare landscape of Italy with increased funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

On January 23, 2024, the Ministry of Health introduced a new national catalog, which guarantees the Spanish population's genetic tests nationwide. Currently, the catalog includes 672 tests in eight disease areas, including adult and pediatric oncohematology, pharmacogenomics, hereditary metabolic and mitochondrial diseases, and others. Twelve more disease areas are expected to be added in 2024.

The LEA catalog was brought in 2017, but the tariffs were approved in 2023. The new tariffs for outpatient specialist care were supposed to enter into force on January 1, 2024, but the adoption of new tariffs was postponed to April 1, 2024, due to the technical inability of the Regions to implement the change in time.

In Belgium, kidney dialysis is reimbursed under a specific agreement (Convention) between the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) and chronic kidney failure centers starting in 2018. The current update of the Convention came into force on January 1, 2024, and is valid until December 31, 2026. Four new Pseudo-nomenclature codes for informing and training patients were added.

In January 2024, eight NHS Genomic Networks of Excellence were launched within the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS). NHS England is funding these innovative networks to develop the evidence and model of adoption for cutting-edge genomic advances and technology applications and inform commissioning decisions.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Siontis et al. conducted a systematic review of the clinical evidence supporting 71 high-risk cardiovascular devices before and after market access in the European Union (CE-marking) between 2000 and 2021. The authors aimed to assess the quantity and quality of published studies, revealing a notable insufficiency in publicly available data and a lack of randomized clinical trial data published before CE-mark approval, with most studies being non-randomized and conducted in small populations without the provision of power calculations.