ASSESSMENT OF THORACIC EXPANSION AND ASSISTED COUGHING DEVICES

The Medical Device and Health Technology Evaluation Committee (CNEDiMTS) recommends:

1.  continuing to reimburse those IPPB and mechanical in-exsufflation devices in patients (adults and children) with neurological or neuromuscular, congenital or acquired pathology. This change takes into account the ageing of the population of children with neuromuscular diseases, and also allows the reimbursement of these devices in patients with central nervous system disorders such as multiple sclerosis that cause severe locomotor disability, who are increasingly examined from a respiratory point of view;

2.   singling out the role of each device for use at home by patients and/or carers, namely mechanically assisted thoracic expansion for IPPB devices, and assisted coughing and clearance for mechanical in-exsufflation devices;

3.   defining the procedures for initial prescription and renewal: initial prescription for 6 months by a hospital multidisciplinary team and renewal by any doctor within one time and for a six month period;

4.   setting minimum technical specifications for both categories of device;

5.   producing a common description of services associated with these two generic categories, namely a technical installation service at the start of treatment, provision of equipment, a start-up service (1st month of treatment) and a follow-up service (> 1st month of treatment).