Bidding from the head physician

The authority to purchase medical equipment is transferred to hospitals

The Ministry of Health and Social Development will no longer centrally purchase medical equipment supplied to the regions under a number of targeted programs, including the federal program for organizing high-tech medical care. Minister of Health and Social Development Tatyana Golikova announced this recently. According to her, “all powers will be transferred to healthcare institutions,” which will independently conduct competitions for suppliers. Of course, having previously agreed on your needs with the ministry and received funding from it.

As the Ministry of Health and Social Development explained to Vremya Novostei, the system that was in effect until recently did not suit everyone . “There were always complaints that they bought something wrong,” complained a source in the ministry. And the chief doctors really had reasons for dissatisfaction. Since the state purchased all equipment in bulk, then, of course, the technical parameters of the equipment were chosen to be the most average, without taking into account the specifics of individual medical institutions. Often, an expensive and bulky unit was delivered to a remote regional hospital with great difficulty, and it was not expected there at all. Already on the spot, it turned out that the doctors had never heard of it, and local administration officials included it in the lists of necessary equipment - according to the principle “it will fit on the farm.” As a result, X-ray machines and ultrasound diagnostic equipment rusted in the basements while the clinic administration urgently looked for a suitable room to house the unexpected new items. Needless to say, if there was simply no specialist in the area capable of handling such equipment, then the devices remained out of use.

Chief doctors now have additional responsibilities for holding competitions and auctions, and the form for selecting suppliers is approved by the management of the medical institution itself, which is the buyer.

The now disbanded Federal Agency for Health and Social Development (Roszdrav), which previously supplied medical equipment, is confident that this will not confuse hospital management. “They are still holding similar events to purchase consumables,” agency specialists explained to Vremya Novostey. True, officials who have lost their usual duties are prophesying on the sidelines an increase in unforeseen expenses that will arise as a result of the implementation of the new procurement scheme. The reasoning is purely market-based: the state is a wholesale customer, manufacturers and suppliers gave it a discount, and clinics will order equipment individually, and even with non-standard configurations. It will be more expensive to travel around the country.

However, medical equipment manufacturers themselves believe that the burden on the budget will not increase. In their opinion, the state was forced to relinquish its function as a supplier precisely because it was impossible to reduce procurement costs, despite large wholesale volumes. In fact, such a measure is a capitulation to the specific features of the work of large bureaucratic structures, says Vitaly Omelyanovsky, executive director of the Association of International Manufacturers of Medical Devices (IMEDA). “We can only guess why wholesale discounts did not have any impact on the overall budget for government purchases of medical equipment,” he told Vremya Novostei. Mr. Omelyanovsky admits that with the transfer of responsibility to the local level, “the practice of so-called kickbacks will also descend there.” A representative of the association of manufacturers, whose product share in our market exceeds 70%, is confident that now every hospital will want to have a computed tomograph and will apply for it. As a result, the Ministry of Health and Social Development will receive a large amount of additional work and a bunch of dissatisfied chief doctors, whose overly ambitious applications will be rejected.

The new system will not bring any surprises to the manufacturers themselves. “Companies have spent their entire lives developing marketing schemes at all levels and know very well those who work on their equipment,” Mr. Omelyanovsky is confident. It is even easier for their representatives to find a common language with chief doctors than with ministerial officials.

Galina PAPERNAYA