Hospital Medical Devices: building stronger relationships through the Healthcare Hui and MTANZ
The aim of Pharmac’s Hospital Medical Devices programme is to drive better value, nationally consistent, and equitable access to hospital medical devices in public hospitals.
Delivery of this work is increasing as we scale up activity in the programme, work to build a comprehensive list of medical devices in 2025 and pick up activity that has previously been managed elsewhere in the health and disability sector.
Like all of Pharmac’s work, this mahi requires strong relationships and successful engagement to bring value to New Zealanders. As we pass the milestone of $600 million of annual spend under national contract, we reflect on our recent Medical Devices Healthcare Hui in late May, and also approach a key relationship-building opportunity with suppliers – the MTANZ (Medical Technology Association of NZ) Conference in late June.
“It’s essential that Pharmac’s work in this space is informed by those who work with medical devices every day – whether as clinicians, suppliers, consumers, advocates, or other industry partners,” says Catherine Epps, Pharmac’s Director, Medical Devices. “We couldn’t have success in this programme without people bringing valuable perspectives and information to the Pharmac Devices teams. We’re looking forward to strengthening these critical relationships and support a better understanding of this programme.”
“We’re pleased with how our Healthcare Hui went in late May – it was fantastic to talk with a range of organisations about our Devices work, and the steps we’ll be taking next in our journey to list all hospital medical devices in New Zealand,” says Epps. “At the Hui the group shared their perspectives and asked a range of questions that will continue to help shape the programme to better serve the needs of those who use hospital medical devices.
“We’re really looking forward to attending the HealthTech Week conference later in June. We will have a number of Pharmac staff at the conference and are looking forward to talking more with suppliers,” says Epps. “MTANZ’s members supply many of the non-pharmaceutical products used in New Zealand healthcare facilities, which means that they are absolutely vital to building an effective management approach to hospital medical devices which serves New Zealanders now and well into the future.” |
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Devices dashboard
How the national contracts are tracking as of June 2024
| 168,000 devices under contract covering $604 million of annual hospital expenditure on medical devices. |
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Pharmac hosts successful Minister's visit with the Medical Devices Directorate
 On Tuesday 28 May, Pharmac’s Medical Devices Directorate hosted Minister Seymour, Act MP Todd Stephenson, Acting Pharmac Board Chair Peter Bramley, and several ministerial staffers.
The goal of the visit was for the Minister to meet some of the people behind the medical devices work and understand the work programme and how it will benefit the health sector and New Zealanders.
We spoke to him about:
- the service design - outlining how our approach with medical devices is continuously improving.
- our approach to device category management and how we work closely with clinicians and health sector partners to get positive device contracting outcomes.
- how we will support the health sector to make more informed funding decisions using health technology assessment (HTA).
This was the Minister's second visit to the Pharmac offices, and he left with a deeper understanding of what we are achieving with hospital medical devices.
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Pharmac Contracts 101
Offering Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora hospitals a lower price for medical devices listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule
Suppliers may supply medical device(s) to Health NZ hospitals at a lower price than listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule with Pharmac’s prior consent.
The ability to offer reduced pricing is outlined in clause 21.2 of the agreement: ‘Price adjustment if one Te Whatu Ora Hospital is to be offered a lower price’.
If Pharmac has agreed (in writing) to offer a reduced price, the supplier will need to notify all Health NZ hospitals and logistics providers of the reduced price and the period of time the price will be offered for. Supply of the medical device(s) must be available to all Health NZ hospitals.
The intent of clause 21.2 is to make sure that there is equitable access to the reduced priced medical device(s) for all regions across New Zealand.
Should the reduced price of the medical device(s) be a permanent reduction, suppliers should notify their Pharmac contract manager, in writing, of the reduced-price offer and Pharmac may adjust the price listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.
Suppliers can contact their contract manager or email the contract management team to discuss reduced pricing.
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Registration of Interest (ROI) for personal protective equipment
The supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) was managed centrally during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Health funding for this was stopped in October 2023, and new arrangements for the central management of PPE are now being organised by Pharmac. On 23 May 2024, Pharmac issued a Registration of Interest (ROI) for supply of PPE to Health NZ hospitals. This ROI is stage one of a two staged competitive process for establishing a panel of suppliers of PPE. Suppliers that demonstrate they meet the requirements of the ROI will be invited to submit a response to the closed Request for Proposals (RFP) processes. Suppliers must submit a response to the ROI to be eligible to be invited to submit a response to an RFP. Health NZ will likely undertake some discrete procurement processes to meet operational requirements while Pharmac establishes the panel of suppliers. Pharmac will be working closely with Health NZ as it establishes the new arrangements, and the new arrangements from Pharmac will supersede existing ones at the time they are implemented. The ROI closes on Thursday 20 June 2024 at 5pm. |
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Request for Information (RFI) for renal dialysis
Pharmac has released a Request for Information (RFI) for the haemodialysis equipment and consumables, and peritoneal dialysis equipment and consumables categories.
The RFI is available on the Government Electronic Tender Services website and on the Pharmac website. We are inviting responses from current and new suppliers and encourage you to subscribe to the GETS notice when it becomes available.
Approximately 3,100 people use haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis equipment and consumables in New Zealand annually - we expect that this number will grow.
It is important that our commercial arrangements continue to provide value for the New Zealand health system. Through the RFI, we want to better understand the market and identify possible purchasing arrangements for the continued supply of haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis equipment and consumables.
We expect that future commercial processes in these categories will generate competition, manage cost escalations, and provide access to clinically appropriate haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis equipment and consumables.
The RFI closes on Wednesday 26 June 2024 at 4pm. Pharmac will be working closely with Health NZ as it considers and works through the responses to the RFI.
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Health System Catalogue
The Health System Catalogue (HSC) is increasingly becoming the primary source of product data for the health system. It will help us improve data alignment and unlock future opportunities for both suppliers and health system users.
The latest update from HSC shows:
- 196 suppliers are live
- 164 suppliers have published pricing
- 74.5% of suppliers are on Pharmac contracts
- 218,257 active items in supplier catalogues
- 120,449 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.
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| Category |
Supplier |
Date |
| Other procurement activities |
| Registration of Interest - listing agreements for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) |
Government Electronic Tender Services (GETS) |
Close date 20 June |
| Request for Information - haemodialysis Equipment and Consumables, and Peritoneal Dialysis Equipment and Consumables |
Government Electronic Tender Services (GETS) |
Close date 26 June |
| Consultations released since 17 April 2024 |
| Laboratory equipment and consumables, and Point of Care Testing equipment and consumables |
Diagnostica Stago Pty Ltd |
13 June |
| Sterilisation and decontamination equipment, and associated consumables |
Bio Decon Limited |
12 June |
| Medical imaging, software and associated products |
Fujifilm Sonosite Australasia Pty Ltd |
27 May |
| Non-dedicated feeding devices, feeding equipment and associated devices |
Nutricia Limited |
24 May |
| Sterilisation and decontamination equipment and associated consumables |
JR Medical Limited |
22 May |
| Anaesthetic machines, invasive ventilators, neonatal care and critical care patient monitoring. Patient assessment, monitoring and treatment devices. Surgical implants. |
Paragon Care Group New Zealand Limited |
16 May |
| Surgical implants, medical and surgical instruments, and power tools |
Bio Serve NZ Limited |
9 May |
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. |
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Supply challenges for medical devices
We are working with suppliers, Health New Zealand hospitals, and the Ministry of Health, to minimise the impact of supply issues for hospitals and people in care. If you are experiencing any issues in the supply of Pharmac contracted medical devices, please email our contract management team. |
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We'd love to hear from youWe 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!
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