In 2013, Norway established a framework for the introduction of innovations into the health care system through either a national or hospital-based health technology assessment. This framework is called the “New Method”.
In this framework, all innovations should undergo HTA before being funded. If the method concerns only one or two hospitals, the assessment shall be initiated by clinicians and ran at the hospital level. The final report is disseminated via a mini-HTA database. If the method is of national concern, it undergoes Single Technology Appraisal at the national level, followed by the funding decision by the group of payers (Decision Forum, Beslutningsforum).
In the second half of 2020, eight new mini-HTA projects of medical technologies were launched:
- Intrathecal contrast-enhanced MRI in selecting adult hydrocephalus patients for shunt surgery (Oslo University Hospital)
- Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for swallowing difficulties (Oslo University Hospital)
- Composite tissue allotransplantation (Oslo University Hospital)
- Histotyping (Artificial Intelligence) (Oslo University Hospital)
- Intraoperative bronchoscopic assessment of tracheomalasia in vascular and oesophageal atresia repair (Oslo University Hospital)
- Assessment of neuropathic face pain in invasive motor cortex stimulation (Oslo University Hospital)
- Indirect calorimetry for measuring energy consumption in different patient groups (Oslo University Hospital)
- Lipid apheresis treatment for indication lipoprotein (Vestfold Hospital Trust)
The full list can be seen here in Norwegian.
After completion of the assessment, hospital management will make a decision about the funding of studied technology in a particular hospital.
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