News and blog posts

20

Mar 2020

At the beginning of 2020, the Galician Scientific and Technical Advice Unit released a health technology assessment on the treatment of benign thyroid nodules (TNs) by thermal laser or radiofrequency ablation that aimed to assess its safety and clinical effectiveness compared to standard treatment. The methods were considered safe and effective procedures for the treatment of benign, solid, and symptomatic TNs. Read more

19

Mar 2020

On February 12, 2020, it was announced that the Swiss Federal Council is planning to modify the Health Insurance Ordinance (OAMal / KVV) with the goal of enhancing hospital planning, and unification of the inpatient tariffs throughout the country. Read more

18

Mar 2020

On March 3, 2020, the Reimbursement Commission made major updates to the SUT. The main changes relate to the increase in reimbursement fees of procedures (reimbursement fees increased depending on the type from 10% to 30%). Read more

17

Mar 2020

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Health Technology Wales (HTW) have formally committed to work together to enhance their independent and authoritative Guidance on non-medicine technologies. On March 3, 2020, it was announced about the collaboration of these two organizations. Read more

16

Mar 2020

At the beginning of 2020, the Galician Scientific and Technical Advice Unit released a health technology assessment on irreversible electroporation (IRE) for the treatment of liver and pancreatic cancer that aimed to analyze its safety, effectiveness, considerations for use, and the economic, organizational, social, ethical, or legal aspects. The efficacy evidence of IRE in achieving complete ablation is insufficient. Safety evidence is also insufficient as it is unclear whether IRE is safer as the standard treatment. Read more

13

Mar 2020

At the end of January 2020, the Decision Forum rejected Focal Impulse and Rotor Mapping ablation approach and workstation RhytmView for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and ex-situ perfusion platform for organ preservation after the brain death of the donor due to its insufficient efficacy evidence. Read more

12

Mar 2020

In severe cases of lipedema, the costs for liposuction will be covered by the statutory health insurance companies from January 2020. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV) have added several new fee order items to the EBM (German Uniform Evaluation Standard) and set the reimbursement. Read more

11

Mar 2020

Since autumn 2019, MTRC has started the release of the Market Access Magazine with an overview of key reimbursement news for the last quarter, along with analytical reviews on the topic of market access for medical technologies (reimbursement, funding, HTA, innovation payment schemes). Download free of charge from our website. Read more

11

Mar 2020

The French High Authority for Health (HAS) regularly publishes new decisions about add-on reimbursement for medical devices. The decisions made in February 2020 concern various types of devices, for example, cardiovascular and orthopaedic devices, diabetes management systems, etc. A total of 6 decisions were made. Read more

10

Mar 2020

On January 1, 2020, as a part of healthcare reform in Austria, the Austrian health insurance fund (Die Österreichische Gesundheitskasse (ÖGK)) was created by merging the nine former regional health insurance funds. The ÖGK is based in Vienna. Read more

09

Mar 2020

The “Subsidy for promising care” scheme makes it possible to obtain temporary financing for care that looks promising but is not yet reimbursed from the basic health insurance package. The deadline to apply for funding via this scheme is April 7, 2020. Read more

06

Mar 2020

In Sweden, the Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology (CAMTÖ) leads the development of HTA cooperation in the healthcare region Uppsala-Örebro. In February 2020, CAMTÖ started its work on the assessment of peripherally inserted central venous catheter. After the completion of the evaluation process, the report would be published at the web-site of Örebro County Council. Read more