Procurement

In February 2025, the Board of Danish Regions meeting was held. The key themes discussed concerned prioritizing public wellbeing and environmental sustainability, expanding cancer treatment capacity and funding, and the status of the Common Regional Procurement Strategy 2020-2025 (including “green” procurement).

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Value-based Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Vogler et al. proposed fit-for-purpose policy recommendations based on the analysis of current funding and pricing structures for point-of-care tests (POCTs) for community-acquired acute respiratory tract infections across Europe. The authors aimed to improve antibiotic prescribing for respiratory infections by enhancing the uptake of POCTs. The study suggested several funding policy and pricing-related recommendations ‒ such as physician-focused remuneration models, public reimbursement coverage, and strategic procurement approaches ‒ which can substantially boost the implementation of rapid diagnostic tools in outpatient settings.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Value-based Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Messori et al. analyzed an algorithm for identifying innovative, high-risk medical devices in Tuscany, Italy. Due to its limitations ‒ such as a narrow selection of qualifying devices and reliance on strict objective criteria ‒ the authors introduced a "potentially innovative" category to accommodate devices with clinical and economic value. Based on an analysis of 17 devices, this refined classification supports a structured procurement approach, with plans for regional implementation in hospitals in the coming months.

MTRC shares the most relevant and impactful publications in the field of market access and HEOR for medical technologies in Europe through its Value-Based Procurement Publications Digest. In a recent publication, Vogler et al. examined global pull incentives within public health policies aimed at promoting the market entry of novel antibiotics and diagnostics. Their analysis identified a range of pricing and reimbursement initiatives and offered a review of procurement incentives ‒ including value-based procurement, pooled procurement, and subscription-based models that decouple prices from volumes.

In early June 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement updated information about the nationwide purchase and supply system for High Cost Tariff-Excluded Devices, which was introduced in 2016. The name of the program changed to the Specialised Service Devices program (SSDP). The program currently covers 15 categories of devices, and several new categories will be added during the 2022/23 financial year.

According to the available financial results, published by the German Federal Ministry of Health, the German statutory health insurance companies reported a total deficit of around 2.65 billion euros in 2020. The health fund reported a deficit of 3.49 billion euros in 2020. As of January 15, 2021, the health fund's liquidity reserve was around 5.9 billion euros.

NHS England is advising a temporary pause on any new migrations to the central supply route for high-cost tariff-excluded devices (HCTEDs) so that NHS suppliers can devote maximum operational effort to the COVID-19 action plan. If an NHS provider wants to complete an HCTED category migration, they will address this with their respective implementing manager for the NHS Supply Chain.

The Italian association of medical technology manufacturers, CONFINDUSTRIA dispositivi medici, published the results of a study in which they studied the average time the supplier of medical devices has to wait to get an invoice paid by the Italian hospitals. The differences vary between 35 days and 504 days.

On February 19, 2019 the new “Catalog of Goods and Services” for the centralized purchasing platform was presented to the regional health authorities by the Minister of Health. This new catalog includes up to 25,000 items, including drugs and health products.

In late October 2018, Assobiomedica, the body that represents the companies that operate in the medical device sector, published the fourth edition of the document “Public policies for the purchase of medical devices.”

On November 7, 2018, the Italian Ministry of Health announced the document which should serve as a tool for the acquisition of medical devices through tenders.

The generic quality framework and three modules of care describe the general requirements for medical devices for home-based application, included in the Health Insurance Act (Zvw). This framework is not intended for medical devices that fall under the Social Support Act (Wmo) and medical aids provided in intramural settings.