NICE, NHS England proposing appraisal changes

The U.K.'s NICE and NHS England proposed a fast track option for NICE to evaluate treatments it believes are the most cost-effective. The new pathway could give patients access to treatments as much as three months faster than under the current process, the agencies said.

According to a consultation document, NICE and NHS proposed a "lighter touch appraisal process" for technologies that NICE "can be confident" will cost less than L10,000 ($12,408) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The agencies said that in final guidances issued in 2007-14, about 15% of NICE's appraisals were at or below that QALY threshold. ...