On October 20, 2023, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced that a budget of 130 million euros was allocated to support the upcoming launch of the Personalized Digital Care Plan. Healthcare digitalization is already a well-established reality that materialized into the Digital Health Strategy with more than 800 million euros budget allocated since 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In October 2023, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) introduced an updated application procedure for the List of implants and invasive medical devices, including a new application form. The new form is organized according to the PICO (Population-Intervention-Comparator-Outcome) principle.

In October 2023, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) published a policy rule that defines the amount for academic care contribution and the rules for its allocation in 2024. The policy rule aims to determine the reimbursement for costs that arise for certain healthcare providers because they permanently maintain facilities (staff and infrastructure) that enable them to provide highly specialized and innovative care linked to fundamental patient-centered research.

On October 18, 2023, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (BMSGPK) announced that its budget would increase by 3.9 billion to 25.8 billion euros (by 18%) in the coming year. 1.1 billion euros from the budget will be allocated for the health care reform, which will be implemented as part of the financial equalization.

In October 2023, the Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) working group, which develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclatures for private payers in England, published Bulletins with changes to be implemented no later than December 7, 2023. Eight new procedure codes (concerning endoscopy, gastrointestinal, interventional radiology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, and men's health) and three new diagnostic codes were introduced.

On October 16, 2023, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the decision recommending the transfer to standard care for another three completed projects. Two projects evaluated the effects of psychotherapy structural reform. The third project analyzed the health risks of long-term use of proton pump inhibitors (drugs that reduce stomach acid production).

On October 20, 2023, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) published six newly initiated health technology assessments, four of which relate to MedTech. These belong to pulmonary, interventional radiology, and physiotherapy technology groups.

In late October 2023, the Basque Office for Health Technology Assessment (OSTEBA) is working on several HTAs, including the evaluations in the cardiovascular, diagnostic imaging, e-health, ENT, ICU/OR, nephrology and urology, IVD, neurovascular, obstetrics and gynecology, surgical procedures, and some other fields.

In October 2022, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) launched the project “Continued development of coverage management: Implementation of the use of disease models”, which will run for three years to gain more knowledge about the development and application of disease models for the assessment of technologies for coverage within basic health insurance.

In October 2023, the FinCCHTA published on its website a Digi-HTA assessment aiming to evaluate Lokomat robot-assisted walking rehabilitation device, as well as Indego – Exoskeleton robot-assisted walking device. The products received a total score of 08 (out of 10), which means the quality but insufficiency of available evidence and safety data. The cost of using the products could be high. There could be minor deficiencies in data security and protection or usability and accessibility.

The updated German Uniform Evaluation Standard (EBM) catalog came into force on October 1, 2023. The EBM catalog (Einheitlicher Bewertungsmaßstab) regulates the reimbursement of services in the public outpatient sector in Germany and is updated once a quarter (four times a year). Among other changes, a new code for “Mawendo” and “Oviva Direkt für Adipositas” health apps were introduced in the catalog.

On October 5, 2023, the Health Technology Council initiated the evaluation aimed to investigate whether Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation should be used as a treatment option for adult patients with treatment-resistant depression. The expected publication date is not announced yet.