Screening methods

In early August 2023, the Polish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System (AOTMiT) announced the start of the evaluation of several technologies in men’s health, neuromodulation and in-vitro diagnostics fields.

In May 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England released two MedTech-related reports in its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Journal, which endoscopic radiofrequency ablation in malignant biliary obstruction and screening for ovarian cancer. 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.

On March 17, 2023, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) published an update on its recommendations for techniques to be used within the organized breast cancer screening. HAS recommends introducing mammography by tomosynthesis in association with the reconstruction of a synthetic 2D image.

On February 23, 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 preventing the family risk of colorectal carcinoma, shared decision-making in the hospitals, and digitally supported drug therapy management.

On December 16, 2022, a decision of the National Union of Health Insurance Funds (UNCAM) relating to the update of the NABM Nomenclature for IVD tests was published in the Official Journal of the French Republic. Various changes were introduced, including the inclusion of new codes, modifications of the existing ones, and tariff changes.

On November 17, 2022, the Ministry of Health and Prevention published the Order in the Official Journal of the French Republic on the extension of the national newborn screening by laboratory diagnostics to seven more diseases (inborn errors of metabolism).

On May 13, 2022, the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the decisions, in which they recommended the transfer to standard care for three completed projects. The projects relate to healthcare coordination, polypharmacy, and neonatal screening.

On February 21, 2022, it was announced by the Ministry of Health that the public consultation regarding the Draft Order amending the Common Package of Benefits of the National Health System (SNS) was open. The amendments and clarifications are related to the fields of in-vitro diagnostics, ENT, pulmonary and airways, e-health, neurology, dental care, radiology, and enteral nutrition.

The Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) will accept applications for subsidies under the "Early Detection" sub-program until March 8, 2022. This scheme is intended for upscaling screening programs or population screening.

In late September 2021, the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsdatastyrelsen) has opened the application period for submitting proposals for new national screening programs in 2022. The deadline for the submission of the applications is December 1, 2021.

Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) develops national HTA guidelines to support decision-making in Ireland. In the first quarter of 2021, Health Information and Quality Authority published only one assessment on the topic of Extended Interval Screening by the Diabetic RetinaScreen Programme.

The French Ministry of Solidarity and Health constantly announces the new experiments initiated under Article 51 of the Social Security Financing Act. These experiments are focused on various topics concerning medical technologies and organization of care. Eleven new experiments were initiated in the fourth quarter of 2020. The experiments concern areas of diabetes, nutrition, home monitoring of patients on oral cancer drugs, bariatric surgery, and others. More details about each of the experiments initiated in the fourth quarter of 2020 is provided in this article.