Announcements

Troponin and D-dimer point of care tests can be used to aid the diagnosis of patients with symptoms suggestive of suspected acute coronary syndrome and venous thromboembolism respectively. Potential advantages of point of care tests include faster turnaround time, reduced length of stay and reduced unnecessary hospitalisation/further testing. This report aimed at evaluating the clinical benefit of these two point of care diagnostics in various settings. Two overview of reviews, two guideline synopsis and interviews with experts were hereby carried out.

Cervical cancer screening has been revolutionized by the discovery that nearly all cervical cancer diseases are caused by persistent infection with human (high-risk) papillomaviruses (HPV). Along with this, the development of new HPV-based test systems internationally led to a change in existing cervical carcinoma screening strategies. The purpose of this report was to provide a basis for the decision to implement the HPV test in cervical carcinoma screening in Austria.

Until a few years ago, there were no specially designed rehabilitation centres for children and adolescents in Austria, which differ from adult rehabilitation programmes with regard to the supply structure (e.g.; structural requirements or rehabilitation measures). In 2010, a need for a total of 343 beds for 11 indicator groups and an additional 50 beds for the relatives was indicated within the scope of the planning phase of the child and adolescent rehabilitation centres in four Austrian supply zones by 2020. The six newly built centres will now be evaluated on a regular basis. Therefore, the present report provides an overview of international evaluation methods and (standardised) evaluation instruments that can be used for future evaluations.

In recent years, payments made by the pharmaceutical industry to doctors and medical institutions have increasingly been questioned critically. In a systematic analysis, the websites of all PHARMIG member companies (113) were once again searched for information on financial contributions to Austrian healthcare professionals and institutions in 2018. In 2018, a total of 138.3 million euros flowed from PHARMIG member companies to doctors and medical institutions as well as to clinical research and observational studies in Austria. In 2015, the total amounted to 104.1 million euros.

Although the number of Pharmig member companies declaring grants increased only slightly compared to 2015 (2015: 69/113, 2018: 76/115), in 2018 almost one third (32.8%) more grants were made - an increase of 34.2 million euros. In 2018, the share of donations to physicians in the total amount was 7% lower than in 2015. Since this figure corresponds exactly to the increase in the category research and development, a re-declaration can be assumed here. The actual willingness to disclose financial contributions, especially from doctors, is still low - the individual disclosure rate (by name) averaged only 21.1% (2015: 21.9%), which corresponds to 18.5% (2015: 17%) of the amounts paid out. In contrast, the willingness to disclose payments to medical institutions by name (institution) was still significantly higher on average at 49.4% (2015: 50.2%).

Diabetes mellitus is a rapidly increasing disease worldwide. In the Austrian Diabetes Report 2017, the number of people with diabetes mellitus in Austria is estimated at about 7 to 11%, with an assumed 30-35% not diagnosed. The—individually adapted—treatment of diabetes mellitus therefore aims to achieve freedom from symptoms and to prevent acute complications and serious secondary diseases. This project report examines whether screening in the general population is recommended in guidelines and, if so, what methods are used to recommend screening in subpopulations.