Thursday, May 25, 2023

12:15 PM - 1:30 PM

Hall M

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Details

Since early 2020 there have been challenges in procurement, be they in PPE to respirators to test kits and vaccines. This has meant that procurement strategies have had to be redesigned and in some case supply chains built from scratch. Looking at procurement from a global view we have: • The majority of healthcare consumables are produced by major suppliers with concomitant standardisation. • Supply chains have been extended and been delayed with more border-based barriers, air-freight constraints, and exacerbated delays due to transport worker and shipping container shortages. • During the pandemic scarcity of critical items and inputs drove up prices; by the time production ramped up, demand in many cases levelled off, resulting in ongoing supply-demand imbalance. • Centralization of procurement, within industry and by governments, has delivered clear benefits in stabilizing markets and prices, especially for public providers. • Traditional healthcare procurement has largely focused on cost reduction through negotiations. In contrast to these recent challenges and solutions a commonly heard refrain from Australian Medtech companies is the difficulty in getting the attention of healthcare procurement when introducing innovations. Have the recent challenges in supply and costs meant that the focus on innovation and economic healthcare benefits been lost? If so, how do we draw attention to the benefits of the innovation to the purchasers in our healthcare system. The panel will discuss issues such as: • How to present a medtech innovation to reduce inefficiency and streamline processes. • How do we challenge legacy attitudes and outdated stereotypes. • Manage and maintain positive relationships between providers and suppliers. • What economic evaluation tools do we have to evaluate medical interventions. How do we use analyses such as cost-effectiveness analyses, cost–utility analyses, cost-minimization analyses, cost–benefit analyses, and cost-threshold analyses to sell your innovation. • How do we balance cost savings in one budget against cost increases in another for an overall decrease.

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Speaker