OBJECTIVES: When medical technologies fulfill an unmet need and support a positive care transformation, they have the potential to bring substantial clinical and economic value to patients and healthcare systems provided that their access is secured. Patient access and broad adoption are however facing significant challenges today due to the lack of prompt and adequate funding, reimbursement, and financing solutions. The objective of this research was to identify, and map innovative VBAPs developed by payers..

METHODS: MedTech Europe commissioned ValueConnected, to explore the VBAPs landscape for Medical Technologies in Europe. Desk research and payers’ interviews were conducted across 9 EU countries.

RESULTS : 22 programs were identified in 9 countries (Austria: 1, Belgium: 1 Denmark: 1, UK: 3, France: 5, Germany: 6, The Netherlands: 2, Portugal: 1, Spain: 2). While conceptually of interest, several limitations and challenges were identified. Many still rely only on some form of randomized control trial, despite a broader acknowledgement that RCT for medical technologies may be limited or not ethically possible. Timelines are not always clear ranging from 12 months to several years and factors to determine their success and failure are not always transparent. Most programs do not have a formal horizon scanning process; 73% are designed for products early in their life-cycles, 52% focus on clinical uncertainty, 36% focus on economic uncertainty,12% address both.

CONCLUSIONS: VBAP’s may provide timely access to new technologies, while addressing the uncertainties faced by payers. VBAPs may also contribute to mitigating expenditure on low value care, reducing overall waste, and improving the system efficiency. The identified challenges associated to these programs may limit achieving these goals in practice. It is our hope that this work stimulates mutual learning and discussion between payers and the MedTech industry to address these challenges