Press release

Berlin, August 18, 2019 – Since a few years, the LiMAx liver function test has increasingly been utilized as a standard liver diagnostic test for non-invasive real-time assessment of metabolic liver function in numerous German, Austrian, and Swiss clinics. 

Despite its increased application, the needs of surgeons, hepatologists and gastroenterologists differ regarding when and how to use the LiMAx test. Consequently, and at the initiative of Humedics and a number of clinical users of the LiMAx test, an international Expert Group recently convened in Frankfurt for a one-day workshop in order to formulate guidelines and indications for the application of the LiMAx test in different clinical situations, now and in future. In addition, to defining the clinical application of the LiMAx test, the Expert Group also developed a framework on how to measure the utility and cost-effectiveness of the LiMAx test, a prerequisite for discussions on cost reimbursement with representatives of German and other health insurance providers.

The Expert Group was headed by Professor Herbert Rebscher, Managing Director of the Institute of Health Economics and Health Care Coverage Research and former DAK CEO, and Professor Andreas Beivers, Dean of the Fresenius College of Health Economics in Munich.  
In addition, over 15 renowned surgeons, hepatologists and gastroenterologists participated.
Among the participants were Professor Ali Canbay (Magdeburg), Professor Peter Galle
(Mainz), Professor Guido Gerken (Essen), Professor Thomas Grünberger (Vienna), Professor Christian Oberkofler (Zurich), Professor Markus Peck (Klagenfurt), Professor Aristoteles Perrakis (Magdeburg), Professor Martin Stockmann (Wittenberg) and Professor Hans Schlitt (Regensburg).

After several hours of in-dept discussions on the relevant application of the LiMAx test in specialist and interdisciplinary sessions, the Expert Group agreed unanimously that the LiMAx test has clear benefits for both physicians and patients during large liver resections and interventional liver operations, treatment of fatty liver and liver cirrhosis, as well as from a health economics point-of-view.  
The findings of the Expert Group are now being prepared for publication in a scientific journal. The publishing of which will serve as a basis for dialogue with medical associations, public health policymakers, and health insurance representatives.  

“The fact that surgeons and internists have agreed so quickly on indicators and modes of application for a relatively new medical test can be regarded as a historical event”, commented Professor Guido Gerken, one of the initiators of the Expert Group meeting.

Humedics’ CEO Karsten Damgaard-Iversen added: “And the fact that this international Expert Group emphasized the cost-effectiveness of the LiMAx-test underlines and supports the premise that health insurance companies would benefit from covering the cost of applying the LiMAx-test and gain substantial cost savings in the treatment and management of patients suffering from a variety of acute and chronic liver diseases”.

For more details, please go to: www.humedics.eu