On 21-22 March Prof Rosanna Tarricone, EHTI Executive Director, attended the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) Summit on "Medical Innovations in Arrhythmias: The expectations, the barriers, the developments" which was held in Sophia Antipolis (France).
An arrhythmia is a condition whereby the heart is beating too fast, too slow or irregularly. Such conditions can be effectively detected and treated with the help of medical technologies such as pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).
Prof Tarricone’s presentation on "Economics & Medical Innovation: closer to reality or is it out of reach?" highlighted the challenges of measuring and demonstrating the true benefits of technological innovations in the cardiovascular sector. Prof Tarricone emphasised the inadequacy of current cost-effectiveness analyses and Health Technology Assessments (HTA) in providing decision-makers with the real value of technological innovation. She concluded by stressing that “Unless new approaches and paradigms become available for assessing medical devices, access to technological innovation in the European healthcare systems is at risk of further shrinking as a result of continuous cost control and containment by governments”.
