n the period of April-May 2023, the Galician Agency for Health Technology Assessment (AVALIA-T) initiated the five health technology assessments referred to IVD, nephrology and urology, obstetrics and gynecology, pulmonary and airways as well as surgical procedures technology groups. The assessments on stereotactic virtual navigation system for percutaneous puncture as well as tumor ablation and invasive telemonitoring of pulmonary pressure in patients with heart failure were released.

In May 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new Interventional Procedure Guidance (intramuscular diaphragm stimulation for ventilator-dependent chronic respiratory failure from high spinal cord injuries), two new Diagnostic Guidance (MRI fusion biopsy systems for diagnosing prostate cancer, automated ankle-brachial pressure index measurement devices to detect peripheral arterial disease), and three new Health Technology Evaluations (Digitally enabled therapies for adults with anxiety disorders / with depression, and point-of-care tests for urinary tract infections). Also, four clinical guidelines were updated.

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, Lavaste investigated the relationship between primary care provision and the uptake of voluntary private health insurance (VPHI) in Finland. By analyzing the data obtained from the national registry and incorporating data on healthcare provider proximity and reimbursement fees, the study reveals that sociodemographic factors (employment, levels of income and education) and patients’ preference are key factors in VPHI uptake and not the (dis)satisfaction with the care provision in public settings. Furthermore, proximity to private (but not public) healthcare providers supports VPHI uptake.

Director of MTRC Oleg Borisenko participated in the session “Innovative Payment Schemes (IPSs) in Europe: springboard for innovation?” at the Med Tech Forum in Dublin on the 31st of May 2023. The section was moderated by Rachele Busca (Director, HTA and Real-World Evidence, EMEACLA, Edwards Lifesciences) and panelists included Daniel Bamford (Deputy Director, Medtech and Digital, Innovation, Research and Life Sciences, NHS England) and Louisa Stüwe (Ministerial eHealth Delegation, Ministry of Health and Prevention, France). Oleg presented the summary of the report on innovative payment schemes for medical technologies, commissioned in 2022 by the European industry association Med Tech Europe to MTRC. We present a summary of the presentation.

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 May 2023. Twenty-one recommendations were published in relation to the registration, modification of registration conditions, and renewal of registration for devices in the List of reimbursable products and services (LPPR). Opinions concern cardiovascular and peripheral vascular, endocrine, ENT, gastrointestinal, and orthopedic devices, as well as medical aids.

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, Vettoretto et al. conducted a Health Technology Assessment in Italy to evaluate the potential benefits of high-energy devices (HEDs) compared to standard monopolar or bipolar devices in various surgical settings. By using various methods, such as literature review, questionnaires, and health-economic tools, the study found that HEDs could lead to reductions in operating time and length of stay, as well as generate significant organizational savings. The authors highlighted the strategic relevance, economic sustainability, and process improvement potential of HEDs in surgical practice.

In May 2023, NICE announced that the Medtech innovation briefing (MIB) program was discontinued. MIBs were a part of the advice program at NICE commissioned by NHS England in 2014 to support the 5-Year Forward View and accelerate innovations. NICE will now focus on introducing new approaches to evaluating the most promising health technologies.

MTRC is developing a novel digital product - Reimbursement and HTA Market Intelligence Database, which will allow access to the historical reimbursement/HTA decisions for individual technology groups (e.g. cardiovascular, robotic, IVD etc.), for individual countries, filtering decisions by type of decision (e.g. procedure coding, payment mechanisms, innovation funding etc.). There will be a small overlap between the upcoming database product and the existing Reimbursement and HTA Alerts newsletter; however, the database will offer much broader functionality and several additional benefits. We invite our existing and prospective clients to comment on the design of the upcoming solution.

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, Benedetto et al. conducted a systematic review to evaluate the analytical frameworks and outcome measures used in economic evaluations of digital health interventions (DHIs). By synthesizing arguments from 15 studies, the authors identified limitations in using traditional health-related quality of life measures and proposed a set of methodological recommendations, including the use of impact matrices, cost-consequence analysis, and analyses of equity impacts. This review provides valuable insights for future economic evaluations of DHIs and advances the understanding of measuring their effects beyond health outcomes.

On May 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. The projects relate to controlling drug prescriptions in outpatient settings, evaluating the effectiveness of outpatient extensive stuttering therapy in primary school children, and the efficacy of cross-sectoral care models in psychiatry.

On May 23, 2023, the Ministry of Health and Prevention published an Order in the Official Journal of the French Republic setting the tariffs for the medical telemonitoring activities covered by social health insurance in the context of the new framework. The tariffs will differ whether they bring an organizational or clinical (improvement in quality of life, morbidity, or mortality) benefit.

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, Veldwijk et al. conducted a study to assess the importance of criteria describing methods for decision-makers in the medical product lifecycle (MPLC) and evaluate the suitability of various preference elicitation methods at each decision point. Using multicriteria decision analysis, an online survey was conducted among MPLC decision makers, who ranked and weighted 19 methods criteria. The results showed that criteria related to estimating trade-offs and weights for treatment characteristics were consistently important across all MPLC decision points. Additionally, swing weighting and probabilistic threshold techniques were found to be more suitable than other methods. The study highlights the need to consider other preference elicitation methods and suggests the development of evidence-based guidelines for their effective utilization.