In December 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released two MedTech-related assessments in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal, which concerned ablative and non-surgical therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma and hidradenitis suppurativa treatment. HTA Journal publishes research reports on the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage, and provide care in the NHS and informs National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

In mid-November, the Federal Office of Public Health released an overview of the Swiss HTA program in a presentation “Bridging the Gap: How to Align HTA and Health Care Decision Making in Switzerland”.

The French National Authority for Health (HAS) released new recommendations about add-on reimbursement of medical devices and medical aids from the meetings of the National Commission for Evaluation of Medical Devices and Health Technologies (CNEDiMTS) in December 2023. Nine recommendations were published in relation to the registration of medical devices in the List of reimbursable products and services (LPPR). Opinions concern cardiovascular, peripheral vascular, and ophthalmological devices, as well as medical aids.

In December 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new Interventional Procedure Guidance (middle meningeal artery embolization for chronic subdural hematomas), one Technology Appraisal Guidance (Hybrid closed loop systems for managing blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetes, and one new clinical guideline.

On December 18, 2023, the updated version of the laboratory test nomenclature was published by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) to come into force on January 1, 2024. Sixty new codes were introduced concerning in-vitro diagnostics and functional diagnostic tests in the cardiology, pulmonology, and gastroenterology fields.

In December 2023, the Norwegian Directorate of Health published a final version of the DRG system (Innsatsstyrt finansiering, ISF) for 2024. In general, no significant changes were introduced. No new DRGs will be added. One new Special Service Group (STG) for light treatment and five new Service Progress Groups (TFGs) concerning maternity care pathways and rehabilitation will be introduced.

On December 20, 2023, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-Spitzenverband) announced that from January 1, 2024, the catalog for ambulatory operations in hospitals (AOP catalog) will be significantly expanded – 171 interventional procedures will be included in the catalog.

In December 2023, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) published two coverage positions on high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in patients with essential tremor with positive recommendation for coverage under basic insurance package, and on radiotherapy with magnetic resonance linear accelerator, which was not recommended for coverage under the basic insurance package.

The Danish Health Data Authority quarterly updates the Health Care Classification System (SKS). In December 2023, the latest code changes were published to come into force on January 1, 2024. Nine new surgical procedure codes and four new medical (MedTech-related) procedure codes concerning cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, interventional radiology, men’s health, peripheral vascular, radiotherapy, and dermatology were introduced.

On December 15, 2023, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the decisions recommending the transfer to standard care for another three completed projects. Two projects evaluated the decision support tools for the BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. The third project analyzed the healthcare provided for patients with congenital heart defects.

On December 19, 2023, the updated Finnish classification of procedures (THL) was published to come into force on January 1, 2024. Thirty-two new procedure codes were implemented concerning cardiovascular, endoscopy, neurology, orthopedic, and other fields.

In December 2023, the Government, Danish Regions, and Municipalities (KL) signed an agreement providing 500 million DKK from 2023 to 2028 to promote the spread of digital treatment services. This will include technologies for home monitoring and targeted control for patients with chronic diseases (such as diabetes, COPD, and heart failure), thus reducing the number of physical check-ups and preventing unnecessary hospitalizations.