In July 2023, Health Technology Wales completed one full appraisal on wearable cardioverter defibrillators with the publication of Evidence Appraisal Report (EAR) and Guidance. Furthermore, in July 2023, Health Technology Wales decided to proceed with a full appraisal of radiofrequency renal denervation in the treatment of resistant hypertension based on the published Topic Exploration Report.

On July 25, 2023, the final version of the DRG manual for 2023 was published. Introduced changes relate to the MDC14, coding of gender in patients under three months of age, and performance of acts inconsistent with the declared sex in transsexual patients.

In late June 2023, the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Center (KCE) published a report on relevance of transversal budget impact analysis. This type of analysis should be submitted as part of the application to the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) to obtain reimbursement for implants and invasive medical devices.

On July 31, 2023, the Danish Health Data Authority opened the application period for changes in the 2025 DRG logic, including the creation of new DRG codes and changes in the grouping logic for existing DRGs. The deadline for the submission of the applications is November 10, 2023.

On July 31, 2023, the National Committee for the evaluation of medical devices and health technologies (CNEDiMTS) at the French National Authority for Health (HAS) published the first positive opinion on the “Early coverage of digital medical devices” (PECAN) framework. The positive opinion is provided to CUREETY TECHCARE medical telemonitoring solution, which is used for medical telemonitoring of adult cancer patients under systemic treatment and/or treated with radiotherapy.

In July 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released one MedTech-related report in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal concerning MRI-based technologies for diagnosing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. 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.

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 July 2023. Sixteen 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 neuromodulation and surgical devices, as well as medical aids.

On July 17, 2022, the Austrian Institute for HTA (AIHTA) published four decision support documents, which provide recommendations regarding the inclusion of new medical interventions in the catalog of individual medical services of the performance-oriented hospital financing (Leistungsorientierten Krankenanstaltenfinanzierung, LKF) model, as well as three updates to previous decision support documents.

In June 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new Interventional Procedure Guidance (irreversible electroporation for treating prostate cancer) and one new Diagnostic Guidance (AI-derived computer-aided detection (CAD) software for detecting and measuring lung nodules in CT scan images). Also, three clinical guidelines were updated.

On July 07, 2023, the Ministry of Health and Prevention announced the implementation of the transitional period for innovative technologies following the experiment under Article 51 of the Social Security Financing Act.

In July 2023, the ZIN announced one more project awarded under round 7 of the Promising care subsidy scheme in 2023. Two more projects within this round were awarded at the end of March 2023. The new project relates to bronchial thermoplasty and will last six years.

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, Solà-Morales et al. proposed recommendations for international standards in evaluating the acceptability of data governance practices for real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) in healthcare. Through a literature review and the following Delphi panel with 21 European experts, the authors identified key topics in RWD/RWE data governance, such as data privacy and security, data management and linkage, data access management, and the generation and use of RWE. The resulting refined checklist can assist RWD/RWE users in ensuring the quality and integrity of data governance while complementing data protection regulations.