Pharmac Device Advice (Issue 64 - December 2024)
- College of Nurses
- Dec 12, 2024
- 4 min read
Jump to new agreements and consultations | December 2024 | Issue 64
Consultation on the comprehensive list set for February 2025
Pharmac is close to having a comprehensive list of medical devices used by Health New Zealand Hospitals.
Andrew Davies, Manager, Medical Devices Funding, says that his team have been working hard to deliver a comprehensive list of medical devices by 1 July 2025.
“Once the list of medical devices is comprehensive it will provide a clear indication of what items are funded and used in public hospitals. This list will improve transparency and consistency of medical device funding and procurement,” Davies says.
Consultation will open in February and will run until the end of March 2025. Pharmac plans to share this list with suppliers, Health New Zealand, and other interested parties.
Suppliers will be asked to check the list for their products, and they will be able to provide details for products that are currently in use that aren’t on the list.
“It's really important that we get feedback from suppliers so we can identify any products missing from the Health System Catalogue or the Pharmac list,” Davies says.
Eventually hospitals will only be able to buy items from the list, which is why its important that it covers what is used now. Suppliers that have maintained their Health System Catalogue information should have less to feedback on, and we will require less information about products that are not on the list, but are in the Health System Catalogue.
After the consultation, Pharmac will use the feedback to confirm the list.
“After consultation closes, our first step is to review the feedback we’ve received and make any changes to the draft list and Schedule rules that are needed. We’ll also communicate the outcome to respondents,” Davies says.
Pharmac engaging with orthopaedics sector
Senior Device Category Managers Taylor Wilson and Senior Device Category Manager/ Team Lead Alyssa Currie from our Device Funding team recently attended the New Zealand Orthopaedics Association (NZOA) Annual Scientific Meeting in New Plymouth.
The meeting’s theme was 'Navigation and Robotics in Orthopaedics,' and involved two days of talks about orthopaedic implants, robotics and software, and presentations on a range of orthopaedic research papers.
"The meeting was a great opportunity to meet with clinicans and discuss Pharmac's medical devices programme," says Currie.
"It gave us a chance to talk more about our work developing expert advice groups, and we were able to explain how we work with Health New Zealand."
The Annual Scientfic Meeting was also a chance to talk to suppliers about the device markets, and learn about future innovations.
Our Devices team is continuing to make an effort to use events like this to connect with suppliers and health professionals - your feedback is incredibly valuable.
Devices dashboard
How the national contracts are tracking as of October 2024
174,000 devices under contract covering $636 million of annual hospital expenditure on medical devices.
Devices Contracts 101 - Secondary Procurement
Did you know that some Pharmac agreements contain a secondary procurement clause?
This clause allows for a secondary process undertaken when purchasing medical devices.
This could mean a different price being paid for medical devices and their additional services from what is set out in the agreement in some circumstances.
Secondary procurement is used when there are complicated configuration requirements for medical devices, or large fleet purchases for medical devices.
Because hospitals have detailed requirements for these types of products, this can’t always be accommodated in the initial agreement. Using a secondary procurement process allows hospitals to get the best configuration and pricing based on their specific needs.
Pharmac will include a secondary procurement clause when suppliers propose to list devices in appropriate categories.
If a supplier is looking to provide an alternative procurement offer that is not set out in their agreement with Pharmac, please contact us. We will advise the right approach to ensure compliance with the contract.
Health System Catalogue
The Health System Catalogue (HSC) is increasingly becoming the main source of product data for the health system. It will help Pharmac improve data alignment and unlock future opportunities for both suppliers and health system users.
The latest update from HSC shows:
197 suppliers are live
197 suppliers have published pricing
79.6% of suppliers are on Pharmac contracts
220,834 active items in supplier catalogues
123,030 prices published
If you need to discuss any issues you are having, or you would like to publish a data set, please contact Ian Malone, Supplier Engagement Lead.
Consultations released since 1 November 2024
Anaesthesia, invasive ventilation, neonatal care and critical care patient monitoring devices
7 November
Sterilisation and decontamination equipment and associated consumables
12 November
Surgical implants, medical and surgical instruments and power tools
18 November
Laboratory equipment and consumables
2 December
Medical imaging, software and associated products
2 December
Agreements notified since September 2024
Patient assessment, monitoring and treatment
12 November
Sterilisation and decontamination equipment and associated consumables
14 November
Non-dedicated feeding devices, feeding equipment and associated devices
20 November
We notify all new supplier agreements and list all new proposals on the Consultations and Decisions page on the Pharmac website. You can also keep track of what’s happening in each category on our hospital medical devices page.
Notification of supply issues
As we approach the busy December freight season, it's timely to include a reminder about suppliers’ obligations when it comes to delays.
Suppliers are obliged to report any potential failure to supply a medical device. Please report these to your Pharmac Contract Manager, and include the following information:
the supplier product code; description, the reason for the failure to supply and when it occurred
average usage in the previous 12 months by Hospital
stock on hand, and when the issue will be resolved
if the supplier, or another NZ supplier, has an alternative product available and the price difference.
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We'd love to hear from you
We welcome any feedback on our work, our website, or this newsletter. You can email devices@pharmac.govt.nz or contact the person identified in a specific consultation or notification.
Noho ora mai rā!
