The UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) publishes its first Medtech Innovation Briefings today (Tues 4 February) on a range of novel technologies. These include a device to cool the brain in patients who’ve suffered a heart attack, a system for measuring narrowing of arteries in people with angina, a hydrosurgery device for cleaning wounds and a test to diagnose kidney damage.
Background
The Innovation briefings are a new product from NICE to support NHS and social care commissioners and staff who are considering using new medical devices and other medical technologies. The information provided includes a description of the medical technology, how it’s used and its potential role in the treatment pathway.
The NICE briefings also include the likely costs of using the technologies and a review of relevant published evidence, but they are not NICE guidance and do not make any recommendations on the value of using the technologies. The briefings will help avoid the need for organisations to produce similar information, so saving staff time, effort and resources.
NICE comments
Professor Carole Longson, Director of the NICE Health Technology Evaluation Centre, said: “We’re very pleased to publish the first four Medtech Innovation Briefings as part of our newest stream of work within the Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme. The first briefings cover a range of topics including a device for cleaning acute and chronic wounds and burns, and a diagnostic for the early identification of acute kidney injury.
“We hope that our impartial information about innovative devices and diagnostics will help NHS and social care professionals, and buyers and commissioners of services and with their local decision-making. The briefings don’t make recommendations about providing the technologies – whether or not to use the products described is entirely the choice of local staff. We hope that the briefings will prove useful for colleagues in health and social care and we’re interested in any feedback that staff would like to share with us.”
The Medtech Innovation Briefings are available here.
Source: NICE
published: February 4, 2014 in: Healthcare, News