In January 2021, the VALUE-Dx project produced a report that aims to map policies related to Health Technology Assessment (HTA), pricing and reimbursement of diagnostics for CA-ARTI in Europe.
The study indicates that the overall level of policy implementation in pricing and reimbursement for diagnostics is rather low. In addition, it is shown that HTA as a supportive tool to inform pricing and reimbursement decisions at national levels is rarely used in the study countries. Diagnostics for CA-ARTI constitute a valuable instrument to ensure rational antibiotic prescribing and thus to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Pricing and reimbursement policies, supported by HTA, can contribute to patient access and uptake of health products, such as diagnostics for CA-ARTI. Further research will be conducted in the course of the VALUE-Dx project.
In its fight against AMR, VALUE-Dx seeks to investigate the economic value, policies and innovative funding models. One of the goals of Work Package 5 is to review and analyze the current policy environment in Europe and identify good practices for the assessment of diagnostics.
The successful implementation and long-term viability of rapid diagnostic testing does not solely depend on developing, selling, and marketing these kind of medical devices. It is also important to demonstrate the economic value – especially from a long-term societal perspective – and to incentivize the uptake of rapid diagnostic tests through appropriate policies with regards to pricing, reimbursement (funding), and HTA.
