On November 20, 2025, the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) published the DRG catalog (Fallpauschalen-Katalog), which includes the list of DRGs and additional reimbursement categories (ZEs) for 2026. Five new DRGs were introduced in the diagnostic imaging, men’s health, nephrology and urology, and radiotherapy fields. No new MedTech-related ZE categories were added to the catalog.
In November 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published one new Interventional Procedures Guidance on low-energy contact X-ray brachytherapy for rectal cancer with different recommendations depending on clinical indications. Furthermore, three new clinical guidelines were released.
Since March 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) has been establishing new standards for vascular surgery and cancer treatment, resulting in the centralization of complex interventions only in hospitals that consistently demonstrate a high volume of such procedures. In November 2025, the seven regions agreed on which hospitals would provide complex cancer and vascular procedures starting in 2026, with a one-year transition period before the new care distribution began on January 1, 2027.
