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A secondary analysis of reimbursement data (DRG-data) from public hospitals was conducted in order to determine how the Aortic Valve Replacement was implemented 2009-2016, either percutaneously (TAVI) or surgically (SAVR), in the Austrian healthcare system. For the period 2009 and 2016, in total 4,338 TAVI and 16,439 surgical aortic valve replacements (SAVR) were carried out. During this period the data show a constant rise in TAVI and a slight fall in SAVR use.  The analysed data show a rate of 107 TAVI per million inhabitants in Austria. 

For several years, the high-cost Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) has been a less invasive alternative to surgery for patients. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the health-economic evaluations of TAVI for inoperable patients and operable patients with high or intermediate surgical risk within a systematic review. The results showed that, TAVI was cost-effective compared to Medical Management in inoperable patients, whereas TAVI compared to Standard Management in inoperable patients and to Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in patients with high surgical risk resulted in controversial results. 

As part of the professionalization of patients organizations and the expansion of their activities (eg. awareness campaigns, advisory services for patients and their relatives, etc.) the need for financial resources is also increasing. This need is often covered by pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. This update analyzed the extent of financial support for patient organizations from pharmaceutical companies in Austria in 2016. 40 of 118 PHARMIG member companies have declared donations to patient organization for the year 2016. A total sum of € 1.435.059 in grants to patient initiatives were reported by the PHARMIG member companies. Most grants (72%) were given to initiatives in the field of Oncology & Hematology, Neurology, Lung, Hemophilia, and Rheumatology.