Commission publishes stakeholder paper on digital health reimbursement

Posted on 02.05.2019

MedTech Europe was the driver behind the paper on reimbursement.  Together with COCIR, the European Society of Cardiology, Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) and European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP), and other experts, members of MedTech Europe’s Digital Health Committee developed four recommendations that address the special nature of digital health technologies and their difficulty in entering funding and reimbursement pathways in Europe:

• Specific criteria are needed to make appropriate reimbursement decisions for digital health products and solutions.
• Relevant digital health products and solutions should benefit from either EU or national funds within innovation investment funds.
• European guidelines for relevant and fit-for-purpose evidence generation for digital health products and solutions should be developed.
• The specifics of digital health products and solutions must be considered when developing instruments for assessing and rewarding the value they provide for patients, healthcare actors, health systems’ sustainability and society.

Lack of adequate reimbursement pathways, alongside lack of interoperability and other factors, are among the most important barriers for the digital transformation of health and care.  The MedTech Europe Digital Health Committee will continue to advocate for appropriate market access for digital health products and solutions.