On December 24, 2024, the decision of the National Union of Health Insurance Funds (UNCAM) regarding the update of the CCAM Classification of procedure codes was published in the Official Journal of the French Republic. Changes include registration of three new procedure codes, modification of billing notes for certain procedures, and amendment of modifiers. The updates are expected to come into force on February 1, 2025.

Since January 1, 2025, the Danish Healthcare Quality Institute has been established, replacing the Health Technology Council and the Regions' Clinical Quality Development Program. The Institute comprises three overall focus areas that contribute to patients receiving high and uniform quality treatment across the country and the best possible health for the money.

In December 2024, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) announced changes in the cervical cancer screening program starting from January 1, 2025. The key change is that in people aged 30 to 64 years, an HPV (Human Papillomavirus) test will be the primary for cervical cancer screening instead of a cytological examination. For this age group, HPV tests will be reimbursed every five years.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of sustainability for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In the recent publication, “Environmental impact of current endoscopic technology in urological procedures: a systematic review on reusable vs. disposable scopes,” Peyrottes et al. presented a systematic review to evaluate and synthesize the existing literature on environmental aspects related to urological endoscopy procedures.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of sustainability for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In the recent publication, “Carbon footprinting and sustainability impact assessment in urological surgical practice - A systematic review,” Wani et al. presented a systematic review to determine the carbon footprint (CFP) of urological surgical practice and identify opportunities for improving the environmental impact of urology surgical practice. Five articles were included in the review. Studies concerned the use of reusable cystoscopes, ureteroscopes and robotics-assisted surgery.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of sustainability for medical technologies in Europe through its Sustainability Publications Digest. In the recent publication, “The environmental impact of energy consumption and carbon emissions in radiology departments: a systematic review,” Roletto et al. presented a systematic review to identify all strategies to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in radiology. In total, 16 articles were included. Main topics were energy consumption (10/16, 62.5%), life-cycle assessment (4/16, 25.0%), and carbon footprint (2/16, 12.5%).

On December 12, 2024, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclatures for private payers in England, published Bulletins 199 and 095 with changes to be implemented no later than February 10, 2025. Five new procedure codes related to diagnostic imaging, robotic surgery, and peripheral vascular, as well as one new diagnostic code, were introduced.

On December 12, 2024, the entity managing the DRG system in Switzerland, SwissDRG, published the final (billing) version of the 2025 DRG system. In total, 23 new DRGs related to cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, nephrology and urology, neurology and neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, pulmonary and airways, and some other areas were introduced. Also, 17 new add-on reimbursement categories were implemented.

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, Martin et al. examined three Early Access Programs in France designed to expedite patient access to innovative medical devices. These included Innovation Funding, which has granted temporary coverage to 16 out of 35 applications (46%) since 2015; Transitional Coverage (PECT), which has approved six out of 11 applications (64%) since 2021; and Transitional coverage for digital health applications (PECAN), introduced in 2022, which provided favorable coverage opinion for a telemonitoring solution in its first year. The authors highlighted how targeted funding and regulatory frameworks can bridge the gap between innovation and accessibility, offering valuable insights for the development of a harmonized European framework.

On December 3, 2024, the Member State Coordination Group on HTA released the 2025 Annual Work Programme for the new joint EU-level HTA framework (Regulation on Health Technology Assessment, HTAR). The framework will be fully operational from January 12, 2025.

MTRC, a Pan-European Med Tech market access consultancy, is opening a position of Director of Market Access and HEOR. We are looking for an experienced person with the understanding of market access and HTA processes in Europe both at micro- (understanding technical details and standards) and macro- (understanding the whole picture and customer needs) level. The candidate should be well versed in Med Tech or pharma industry, or life science consulting.

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, Farah et al. conducted a systematic literature review to analyze the suitability of health technology assessment (HTA) domains for AI-based medical devices. The authors highlighted the following key challenges: AI technological evolution timelines, data requirements, complexity and transparency, clinical validation and safety requirements, regulatory and ethical considerations, and economic evaluation. Addressing these barriers through an adapted HTA framework will ensure robust assessments, guide the implementation of AI technologies, and maximize their benefits for patients and healthcare systems.