E-Procurement of Medical Laboratory Equipment: Experiences from a Tertiary Care Oncology Center in India

Dear Sir,

Patient outcomes and healthcare delivery are directly linked to the availability of calibrated, well-functioning, and quality laboratory medical equipment.[1] Quality assurance in medical laboratory is also directly dependent upon the equipment.[2] In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), indiscriminate procurement methods among others are responsible for nonfunctioning of 40 to 70% of the medical equipment.[3] Public procurement amounts to almost 20% of the gross domestic production of India.[4] The Government e Marketplace (GeM) is an online public procurement platform launched in the year 2016 by Government of India with an aim to create a transparent procurement portal for government organizations.[5] GeM has various advantages including (i) ease of purchase, (ii) transparency, and (iii) time bound delivery of goods. However, procurement of medical devices and equipment is a critical issue and has its own challenges.[6] Our hospital is an upcoming government tertiary care oncology center with dedicated departments of oncopathology, transfusion medicine, transplant immunology, and microbiology. All the departments are being equipped with advanced state-of-the art medical equipment. We wish to share the issues identified and their possible solutions based on the experiences of e-procurement of medical laboratory equipment through GeM for our hospital.

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
07. August 2023

• References

• 1 Diaconu K, Chen YF, Cummins C, Jimenez Moyao G, Manaseki-Holland S, Lilford R. Methods for medical device and equipment procurement and prioritization within low- and middle-income countries: findings of a systematic literature review. Global Health 2017; 13 (01) 59 Published 2017 Aug 18
• 2 Garraud O, Schneider T. International collaboration for blood safety: the French-African experience. Transfus Clin Biol 2021; 28 (02) 154-157
• 3 World Health Organization. Medical Device Regulations: Global Overview and Guiding Principles. Geneva: 2003
• 4 Mehta PS. Government procurement in India: domestic regulations and trade prospects. Jaipur, India: CUTS international; 2012. . Accessed on June 23, 2023 at: http://www.cuts-citee.org/pdf/Government-Procurement-in-India_Domestic-Regulations-Trade-Prospects.pdf
• 5 Devendra P. Government E-Marketplace: a gem of an idea. Int J Emerging Technol Innov Res 2019; 6 (04) 192-196
• 6 Ventola CL. Challenges in evaluating and standardizing medical devices in health care facilities. World Heath Organization, P&T 2008; 33 (06) 348-359
• 7 Mehra A, Sharma S, Koushal V. Implementation of government e-marketplace in a tertiary care hospital of North India: advantages and challenges. Int J Res Med Sci 2020; 8: 3934-3937
• 8 Cook DA. A protocol for the measurement of downtime of medical equipment. Br J Radiol 1997; 70: 279-290
• 9 De Maria C, Díaz Lantada A, Jämsä T, Pecchia L, Ahluwalia A. Biomedical engineering in low- and middle-income settings: analysis of current state, challenges and best practices. Health Technol (Berl) 2022; 12 (03) 643-653