CENTRALIZED PROCUREMENT OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AS A TOOL FOR TRANSPARENCY

"It is necessary to radically revise the system of procurement of medical equipment - this is also a big problem. Since this area is highly corrupt. Regions systemically inflate estimates and prices for equipment. Huge amounts of money are spent on its maintenance. Therefore, I instruct the government to switch to a centralized purchase of medical equipment on the basis of LLP" SK-Pharmacy," the President said.

In accordance with the instructions of the President, a vector was set for the transition to a centralized purchase of medical equipment on the basis of the Single Distributor SK-Pharmacy LLP.

It is planned to carry out the centralization of the purchase of medical equipment on the basis of the Single Distributor, following the example of the purchase of medicines, in two stages.

Earlier, on the official website of the Single Distributor, extensive material from a series of analytical reviews was published, which details all the work done and is being done to switch to centralized procurement.

Stage I - is the centralization of the purchase of medical equipment over 20 million tenge on the basis of a single distributor;

Stage II - the development of domestic production, the conclusion of life cycle contracts and long-term contracts in order to have constant access to innovative equipment and timely updates.

The rules for the purchase of medicines, medical devices and specialized medical products are regulated by Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 375.

The main message of the changes introduced has a pronounced anti-corruption focus, as it formalizes the basic principles of procurement, namely the provision of equal opportunities for potential suppliers to participate in the procurement procedure, as well as fair competition among potential suppliers, publicity and transparency of the procurement process.

WHAT IS CENTRALIZED PURCHASE FOR?

In 2021, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan conducted a large-scale inventory of equipment in healthcare organizations. The level of equipment was 83%, equipment wear was about 49%. There are problems with the local procurement mechanism for medical equipment. That is, these procedures are carried out on paper, there is a variation in prices for the purchase of similar equipment.

According to the results of an external analysis of corruption risks in the healthcare system, conducted by the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the period from February 3 to March 5, 2021, it was revealed that over the past three years, local executive bodies have purchased 48.6 million units of medical equipment worth more than 162.5 billion tenge. Thus, for three years only 13.5% (823 out of 6093) were carried out in an electronic format in a competitive way.

A number of facts have been established that testify to corruption manifestations:

• unreasonable rejection of potential suppliers (confirmed by a court decision);

• sending quotations for specific equipment prior to a formal request;

• acquisition of equipment at "fabulously" inflated prices.

The situation of artificially inflating the cost of medical equipment, both imported and manufactured in Kazakhstan, or acquiring equipment that does not meet the technical specifications or is prohibited in the country, was the result of the lack of proper pricing regulation and control due to the closed nature of the procurement procedures.

SINGLE DISTRIBUTOR FUNCTION

A single distributor is the operator of the procurement and provides an electronic platform that ensures transparency, elimination of paper-based procedures and the “human factor”.

In general, the procedure for conducting a centralized procurement of medical equipment requires a phased preparation and an integrated approach.

Let's take a look at each stage step by step.

• Medical organizations submit an application to the National Center for Expertise of Medicines and Medical Devices (NCEMD);
• NCEMD issues an expert opinion on the compliance of the characteristics of the technical specification for the purchase of medical equipment with at least two models from different manufacturers, with the exception of the purchase of medical equipment that has no registered analogues in Kazakhstan, which is confirmed by an expert organization;
• Medical organizations submit an application to the Single Distributor through the information system of the Single Distributor in the form approved by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the purchase of medical equipment worth more than 20 million tenge per unit;
• A tender is being held on the web portal;
• Based on the results of the tender, on the basis of the protocol of results and negotiations to reduce the price of the contract held between the Single Distributor and the supplier, a contract for the supply of medical equipment is concluded between the medical organization and the winner of the tender.

The mission of each participant - a medical organization, NCEMD, a single distributor and supplier - is full of responsibility and plays an important role in the procedure for purchasing medical equipment.

The function of the Single Distributor, as a procurement operator, is, in addition to the actual conduct of the procurement procedure, to consider customer applications for the completeness of the submitted package of documents and the compliance of the expert opinion issued to customers by the state expert organization with the characteristics of medical equipment declared for purchase.

The procurement rules provide for a rule according to which a lot is recognized as invalid if the technical specification of the customer corresponds to only one model of one manufacturer from those offered by potential suppliers for the lot, with the exception of the purchase of medical equipment that has no registered analogues in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

If a complete package of documents is submitted and the technical specification of the customer corresponds to the expert opinion, then the Single Distributor conducts a tender procedure.

In addition, according to changes in the regulatory framework, it is envisaged that suppliers of medical equipment are required to train, upon delivery, not only medical personnel, as it was before, but also the technical personnel of a medical organization on the basic level of service for the equipment supplied, with the issuance of a confirming document.

A report on each step of the process is sent to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Single Distributor carefully monitors the supply of medical equipment and compliance with the terms of the tender.

RESULTS

Thus, the centralization of procurement and the consolidation of the volume of demand from all regions allows for budget savings, transparency in procurement planning, unification of technical specifications for procurement, which ensures real competition between players in the procurement and negotiations to reduce prices with the winners.

The sole distributor took into account all the comments and emerging shortcomings and inconsistencies in the practice of recent years. Extensive measures were taken to improve and improve business processes and the procurement system as a whole, aimed at transparency, anti-corruption, and increasing the level of procurement functioning.

A single distributor is open to suggestions and is always ready to work together with the participation of all involved and interested parties.

For all questions and suggestions, please contact the following contacts:

Department of Medical Equipment Provision – + 77172 559247/959093,

email mail: n.palinka@sk-pharmacy.kz , a.ashirbekov@sk-pharmacy.kz

Press service: +77172 789968, email. mail: pr@sk-pharmacy.kz