News and blog posts
07
Sep 2018
The Clinical Coding and Schedule Development Group develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England. In July new codes for percutaneous paravalvular leak closure, endoscopic vacuum therapy for colorectal anastomotic leakage and phonomicrosurgery for vocal cord lesions, nodules, polyps, or cysts were added to the CCSD Schedule.
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06
Sep 2018
Emilia Romagna Region published a rapid assessment report on the Medtronic’s Heli-FX™ EndoAnchor™ system. The authors concluded that published literature is of poor quality (mainly non-comparative studies) and mostly includes patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm. Data on the use of the device for thoracic aorta aneurysm repair are extremely limited.
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05
Sep 2018
In mid-July 2018, the Health Service of the Canary Islands, SESCS, has published a report in which they have assessed the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the endoscopic ablation by radiofrequency in antral gastropathy and Actinic proctitis.
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04
Sep 2018
At the end of June of 2018, the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialtyrelsen) has published an updated version of the National clinical guidelines for heart care. The review was conducted for the inclusion of few updated recommendations regarding the management of the coronary heart disease, valvulopathy and arrhythmia.
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03
Sep 2018
A national ‘pause’ has been announced in the use of surgical mesh/tape to treat stress urinary incontinence and for urogynaecological prolapse where the mesh is inserted through the vaginal wall. A Mesh Pause Clinical Advisory Group (CAG) was established. Further recommendations and CAG guidance on implementation of the pause has been published.
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31
Aug 2018
In the first half of July, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new Diagnostics Guidance for biomarker tests to help diagnose preterm labour in women with intact membranesand one new medtech innovation briefing for airglove air warming system for venous access.
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30
Aug 2018
Three mini-method assessments regarding the magnetic non-radioactive detection system SentiMag Sienna + of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer, cough reflex testing and emergency targeted ultrasound implementation were initiated by Oslo University Hospital in June of 2018. All finalized mini-method assessments are published in the National Database for Mini-HTA.
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29
Aug 2018
At the beginning of July of 2018, the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has published a final report regarding the benefit assessment of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL) and in T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (T-NHL). IQWiG concluded that the benefit of ASCT in B-NHL and T-NHL is unclear for now, as no meaningful studies are available.
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28
Aug 2018
In June of 2018, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) has published a single technology assessment regarding the MicraTM Transcatheter Pacing System (Micra TPS) - a leadless pacemaker produced by Medtronic to reduce the rate of complications following pacemaker implantations through design and novel technology. The objective of the assessment was to investigate the clinical efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness of Micra TPS in patients indicated for single chamber ventricular pacemaker implantation. The results have shown that the current evidence is not sufficient to prove that the Micra TPS gives less complications than standard pacemakers, also the use of Micra appeared not to be cost-effective.
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27
Aug 2018
This guide offers useful guidance on emergency patient flow to identify a large cohort of patients who can safely be treated on the same day, reducing admissions and improving the patient experience.
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24
Aug 2018
In the second half of June, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published two new interventional procedure guidance for laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy for internal rectal prolapse and MRI-guided focused ultrasound thalamotomy for treatment-resistant essential tremor, and two new medtech innovation briefings for negative pressure wound therapy for closed surgical incision wounds and ocular response analyzer to measure corneal hysteresis.
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23
Aug 2018
At the beginning of July of 2018, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) has commissioned to the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) to provide an assessment of potential harm and benefits of biomarker-based tests for or against adjuvant chemotherapy in primary breast to understand its efficacy in comparison with the previous standard examinations in women who do not require chemotherapy due to a low/intermediate risk of relapse. The final report is expected to be released by G-BA at the end of 2018.
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