Three ministries jointly issued a document: Without approval, public hospitals are prohibited from purchasing imported equipment!

Three ministries jointly issued a document: Without approval, public hospitals are prohibited from purchasing imported equipment!
Medical Device Dealers Alliance 2022-04-28 18:40
On April 22nd, the Anhui Provincial Department of Finance, Anhui Provincial Health Commission, and Anhui Provincial Medical Security Bureau jointly issued a notice on regulating the government procurement of imported products by public medical institutions (hereinafter referred to as the notice).
According to the notice, the Anhui Provincial Department of Finance and three other ministries require all public medical institutions, as well as the finance bureaus, health commissions, and medical insurance bureaus of each city, to further regulate the government procurement behavior of imported products.
Strengthen the management of imported product procurement and implement the policy function of government procurement to support scientific and technological innovation Without approval, no procurement of imported products shall be carried out; For locally produced innovative products, government procurement should take the lead in purchasing them and not be restricted based on commercial performance. Further improve government procurement policies and support the development of domestically produced medical equipment!
The notice shall come into effect from June 1, 2022. If other relevant regulations are inconsistent with this notice, this notice shall prevail. That is to say, regardless of previous regulations, if you want to purchase imported products in the future, you will be notified of the standards.
The notice proposes that if public medical institutions use fiscal budget funds, as well as their own funds such as business income, operating income, and other income to carry out procurement activities, they should strictly comply with the relevant provisions of government procurement on import verification. If the budget for single or batch procurement reaches the limit standard for decentralized government procurement and it is necessary to purchase imported products, audit management shall be implemented.
Moreover, regardless of whether using fiscal budget funds or “self owned funds”, anyone who wants to purchase imported products must upload the “Government Procurement Import Product Application Form” and “Government Procurement Import Product Expert Argumentation Opinion” through the “Huicai Cloud” platform, implement online declaration, and the competent budget unit and the financial department at or above the city level in the district shall approve online.
After the approval is completed, procurement activities shall be carried out in accordance with relevant regulations such as the Guiding Opinions of the Anhui Provincial Medical Reform Leading Group on the Implementation of Centralized Procurement of Medical Equipment in Public Medical Institutions in Anhui Province and the Notice of the Anhui Provincial Medical Security Bureau on the Centralized Procurement of Non Class B Medical Equipment in Public Medical Institutions in Anhui Province. Imported product procurement shall not be carried out without approval.
Not only that, the notice also requires strict review of imported product procurement, with a focus on reviewing the expert’s argumentation opinions on project procurement needs. Unspecific and unclear argumentation opinions are not used as the basis for review.
Previously, some places exploited loopholes in “expert argumentation” to purchase imported products. Not only were there various “experts”, but also medical school teachers, nurses, and unrelated department doctors. The reasons given were also laughable.
This time, the notice specifically mentions the need to “focus on reviewing the expert’s argumentation opinions on project procurement needs”. Obviously, the chaos in this field has already attracted the attention of relevant departments. After this battle, I believe the experts dare not easily sign and stamp it!
Official order:
If domestically produced products can meet the requirements, priority should be given to purchasing domestically produced products!
In addition, the notice also states that for scientific and technological innovation products and services of domestic natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations, government procurement should purchase them under the condition that their functions, quality, and other indicators can meet the needs of government procurement; For the first time in the market, government procurement should be the first to purchase and cannot be restricted based on commercial performance. The products purchased by the government are yet to be researched and developed, and will be implemented through ordering.
In recent years, the country has introduced various policies that are beneficial to the development of domestic medical equipment, but the market is not very friendly towards domestic medical equipment.
Many domestic medical devices, after obtaining approval for market launch, are still stuck in the market and face the situation of “no one dares to buy”. This not only severely undermines the research and development enthusiasm of domestic equipment manufacturers, but also hinders the future development of domestic equipment.
Now, the authorities have once again come forward to provide support for the entry of domestically produced innovative medical equipment into the market. For local medical equipment that is first launched in the market, the government should purchase it first, and hospitals cannot restrict procurement based on past sales and other performance reasons. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is very pleasing. For the subsequent implementation, Alliance Microorganisms will continue to pay attention!
At present, more than 383 products have entered the green channel for innovative medical devices, and 155 products with strong innovation, high technological content, and significant clinical value have been launched. In 2021 alone, 35 innovative medical devices were approved and launched, making it the year with the highest number of approved innovative products in recent years.
If technological breakthroughs are the “first half” of domestic medical equipment independent innovation, then market breakthroughs are the “second half” of domestic innovative equipment. Once the policy gap is opened, more provinces will inevitably follow suit. It can be certain that the “second half” of domestic innovative equipment will usher in a shining moment with the issuance of this notice.
It is undeniable and desirable to prioritize the procurement of domestically produced equipment, provided that the functional and quality indicators of the equipment are met.