Introducing Innovation and Integrated Solutions in Healthcare Systems in Europe through Cross-border Value-based Innovation Procurement (EURIPHI)

- THE PROJECT IS FINISHED.

Value-based procurement

European healthcare systems are adopting innovation and integrated solutions to cope with current healthcare demands. The employment of new solutions requires rethinking procurement policies. A positive transformation approach to evolve procurement practices would be to award the value offered by innovation or integrated solutions. The value will be awarded by multi-disciplinary teams responding to specific patients, health care actors and system needs, while taking societal and economic perspectives into account.

The EU Coordination and Support Action (CSA) under Horizon 2020 ‘Innovation in Healthcare’ is a highly welcomed initiative. This EU initiative aims are to adopt innovation into healthcare systems and advance procurement of innovation practices.

The European Commission in September 2018 approved a project proposal from a consortium of 25 leading organisations in procurement and health care providers to support the “Innovation in Healthcare” initiative. The project "European wide Innovative Procurement of Health and care Innovation" (EURIPHI) will run from January 2019 until June 2020. The EURIPHI-project will build an ongoing growing network of public procures and healthcare providers to ensure the sustainability of activities beyond the period of the project.

Objectives of the Horizon 2020 CSA ‘Innovation in Healthcare’

The main objective of this CSA, as outlined by the European Commission, is to create a Europe-wide consortium of public procurers and healthcare providers in the health- and social care sector, which will define unmet needs in today’s procurement practices in order to implement innovation and integrated solutions using ‘Pre-commercial procurement’ (PCP)1 or ‘Public procurement of innovative solutions’ (PPI)2 in healthcare systems. The related calls for projects will be launched in 2020 and co-funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020.

The CSA focuses on preparing the ground for:

• A PCP/PPI to implement rapid diagnostic tools for infectious diseases in clinical practice. In addition, the public health sector procurers should develop specifications that are suitable for Europe-wide deployment of the rapid diagnostics in the field of infectious diseases.
• One or more PCP/PPIs to drive the shift towards patient centric integrated care in health- and social care systems reform. Clinicians, patients, public procurers in healthcare systems, health- and social care facility managers, and health authorities’ insurers/payers should cooperate to identify the gaps and needs that will lead to the development of new innovative solutions for patient-centred integrated healthcare.

Key Objectives of the EURIPHI Consortium

In the EURIPHI project, the partner organizations involved or interested in value-based procurement and PPI/PCPs are teaming up around the novel approach of Most Economically Advantageous Tendering Value Based Procurement of Innovation Solutions (MEAT VBPPI) to achieve the following goals:

• Establish a sustainable Community of Practice using innovative procurement methods, such as MEAT value-based procurement of innovation and integrated solutions in healthcare systems and develop legal guidance for efficient cross-border value driven procurement with localized decision making
• Adapt the existing tools, perform market consultations and deploy cross-border Value Based PPI/PCP testing as learning cases in the field of rapid diagnostics for infectious diseases and, new models of patient-centred integrated care
• Developing an EURIPHI Network, a network of representatives of (regional) health authorities, policymakers, and payers who, in collaboration with other key stakeholders, will further prioritise investments and foster the deployment of Value Based PPI/PCP.

These key objectives are designed to build a foundation for future EU cross-border PPI/PCP.

Results

Two reports concluded the project:

1. ‘Applying a value-based approach to innovation procurement in healthcare’

The report focuses on the work that had been involved in introducing a new value-based approach to innovation procurement by using the MEAT-principle (Most Economically Advantageous Tendering) 

The report illustrates how value-based public procurement (PPI and PCP) enables the achievement of innovative approaching to public procurement within the health- and social sector. The report touches upon how procures avoid ineffective pits and unnecessary expenses linked to this. The purpose of this is to ensure high-quality procurement benefitting the patients, healthcare professionals, and the health- and social sectors. 

2. 'Advancing health systems in Europe through cross-border value-based innovation procurement'

The second report focuses on the opportunities and challenges present in innovative public cross-border procurement, and how innovative public procurement can contribute to the advancement of innovative healthcare solutions. 

The health- and social sector is primarily publicly financed. Public procurement play a key role in relation to procurement of medical equipment, suppliance, general equipment and services. Furthermore, effective and innovative public procurement in Europe is a unique opportunity for ensuring that investments into the health- and social sector are done on a solid, sustainable and robust foundation. 

Therefore, public procurements should be regarded as a strategic tool in relation to improve and modernise the Healthcare sector. 

Read more on EURIPHI and the results of the project.

The Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark's role in the project

The Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark participated in the project as a partner on behalf of the Region of Southern Denmark with the purpose of advancing EU-collaboration towards value-based procurement within Healthcare. 

EURIPHI Partners

• 12 leading Public Procurement Organizations covering more than 500 service providers throughout Europe.
• Experts from academia, legal, business and European/International associations
  • University Antwerp
  • International Foundation of Integrated Care (IFIC)
  • CMS UK
  • CMS Belgium
  • EMPIRICA
  • European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA)
  • Globrish
  • Federation Europeenne des Hopitaux des Soins de Sante (HOPE)
  • Reference sites collaborative network (RCSN) of EIP-AHA, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), MedTech Europe, University of Valencia, Wavestone.
• An advisory committee of procurers and experts throughout Europe will further enlarge the CSA.