The National Healthcare Security Administration responds that the next direction for centralized procurement of consumables is

01
Improving local centralized procurement rules and strengthening monitoring and assessment of centralized procurement execution

Recently, regarding the rules for centralized procurement of consumables and the implementation and use of innovative medical devices, the National Healthcare Security Administration has provided the following response, particularly explaining the next steps for local centralized procurement.
The note states:

One is to expand the scope of the alliance and strengthen national coordination. Localities are encouraged to carry out alliance purchasing and upgrade to national alliance purchasing when conditions are favourable. The National Healthcare Security Administration will provide overall guidance, coordinate experts to provide technical support, and enhance standardized work capabilities.

The second is to improve procurement rules and strengthen the standardization and scientificity of centralized procurement.

The third is to implement it in a refined manner and consolidate the effectiveness of the reform.

In the above explanation, it is proposed that the National Healthcare Security Administration, in conjunction with relevant departments, will establish and improve incentive and restraint mechanisms for medical institutions and selected enterprises to ensure priority procurement and sufficient supply of selected products.
It is proposed to strengthen the monitoring and assessment of the implementation of centralized procurement in medical institutions, and regularly report and interview medical institutions with poor implementation. For selected enterprises that fail to supply in a timely manner for a long time, measures such as revoking their selection qualifications, being included in the list of violations in centralized procurement, and conducting credit evaluations will be taken. In the subsequent procurement after the expiration of the agreement, incentives or constraints will be given based on the performance of the contract, such as ranking in the selection process, to encourage the enterprise to fulfill its obligations with integrity and ensure quality and quantity supply.

In terms of innovative medical device work, the explanation proposes that the National Health Commission has specially laid out a series of medical device product application solution research, application evaluation, and demonstration research projects for the application of domestic medical device innovative products, establishing effective links between the industry and application ends.

One is to conduct research on new clinical technologies and service models in clinical institutions based on domestically produced innovative devices that have obtained registration certificates, forming replicable solutions and laying a technical foundation for the application demonstration and clinical promotion of domestically produced innovative devices.

The second is to select medical institutions of different regions, levels, and types nationwide, and systematically carry out industrial demonstrations, clinical application evaluations, and demonstration research of domestic innovative products, in order to solve the problem of difficulty in opening up and expanding the market for domestic medical devices.

The third is to explore the establishment of high-end domestic medical device application demonstrations and other assessments in the construction of national clinical medical research centers and other platforms.

02
Local centralized procurement will be fully expanded, thus releasing new signals for centralized procurement

It is not difficult to see that in the process of promoting centralized procurement of consumables, local centralized procurement is playing an increasingly important role. In addition to national procurement, local centralized procurement has developed from small-scale pilot projects in the early stage to a new pattern of parallel inter city alliances, provincial, inter provincial alliances, and even national alliances. This year, the National Healthcare Security Administration proposed for the first time that “provincial alliance procurement shall further strengthen nationwide coordination, and those with the necessary conditions shall be upgraded to national alliance procurement”. Biochemical in vitro diagnostic reagents, tumor markers and other in vitro diagnostic reagents, ultrasound knife heads, breast rotary cutting needles, vascular tissue closure ligation clips, coronary artery cutting balloons, vascular interventions and other centralized procurement have become the key national joint procurement projects guided by the National Healthcare Security Administration this year.

At the local level, the “filling gaps” and “trying new things” for centralized procurement of consumables are continuously being promoted.
On the one hand, some regions have already started centralized procurement, but there are still some categories that have not yet started centralized procurement, which have become key targets for promotion at the local level. According to the plan, varieties such as hemostatic materials, patches, and in vitro diagnostic reagents that have been developed in multiple provinces will be included in the scope of centralized procurement through methods such as quantity based price linkage.

In addition, some exploratory new projects are also being carried out one after another. For example, Jiangsu Province has launched a volume based procurement of non-invasive prenatal genetic testing services this year, which is also the first time this category has been included in volume based procurement. After soliciting opinions, Jiangsu has raised the highest effective bidding price in the centralized procurement, and other parts have also been adjusted to make it more in line with the actual situation of the industry.

In addition, some exploratory new projects are also being carried out one after another.
Overall, local centralized procurement is expected to become more comprehensive at the regulatory level in the future. At the same time, the situation of a nationwide “chess game” of consumable prices has further clarified.

China is encouraging China end uses for more domestic products in latest years. Thus, more and more overseas manufacturers are planning localization in China. BradyKnows localization team has extensive experiences in facility establishment, audit, supplier evaluation, manufacturing, registration, and marketing in China. Pls feel free to let us know any questions on China entry via info@bradyknowsmedical.com
Source：Saibolan
Translated & edited： Bradyknown