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In robot-assisted surgery, the surgeons control the surgical instruments with a telemanipulator. The aim of our report was to investigate the efficacy and safety of robotic surgery compared to open surgery as well as conventional laparoscopy in thoracic and visceral indications. A total of 13 indications were investigated. There was insufficient evidence for the evaluation of efficacy in nine indications. Statements on effect were possible only for some of the outcomes in only four of the procedures (oesophagectomy, gastrectomy, rectal resection,cholecystectomy), for which the quality of the evidence was rated low to moderate. Since the current evidence is not sufficient to determine the added value of robot-assisted surgery compared to conventional surgical procedures, results of ongoing studies are awaited.

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products" (ATMP) is the umbrella term for three classes of medicinal products: somatic cell therapy medicinal products, gene therapy medicinal products and biotechnologically processed tissue preparations [also known as tissue engineering products (TEP)], as well as combination products. These drugs contain or mostly consist of living cells or tissues and are therefore highly complex. The cells used are often taken from a patient, processed in the laboratory (e.g. increased or genetically modified) and then administered again to the same patient.

Vulnerable groups, such as homeless and non-insured people, have a poorer physical and mental health status than comparable populations and usually have no or difficult access to standard health care. Social organisations provide basic health and social care services for these groups of people. Against this background, we searched for evaluation methods for the benefit assessment of easily accessible, outpatient health centers and described the methods, indicators, and instruments used in evaluation studies and reports of comparable services.