The Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau has issued a notification to commence the drug volume-based procurement (VBP) for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, covering a total of 37 drugs, including biological agents such as coagulation factors, fibrinogen, and human serum albumin. This initiative aims to streamline drug procurement processes and ensure cost-effective healthcare solutions for the region.
VBP Catalogue and Pricing Mechanism
The VBP catalogue is divided into two categories: 33 volume-based linkage drugs and 4 volume-based negotiation drugs. The volume-based linkage drugs will consider provincial VBP prices, and through a process of mutual selection between buyers and sellers, the selected drugs will be determined for VBP implementation. The volume-based negotiation drugs will see a reference price for drug transactions established based on provincial VBP prices, followed by invited negotiations and volume-price linkage.
Pricing and Quantity Determination
For the volume-based linkage drugs, the quotation must not exceed the upper limit of the quotation to ensure that the shortlisted candidate drugs can secure 80% of the agreed procurement quantity demanded by medical institutions. In cases where there are significant price differences within the same group, a median pricing and gradient pricing approach will be applied. This means that for each instance where the difference is doubled compared to the average level, the agreed task proportion is reduced by 10%, with a maximum reduction of 50%. For the volume-based negotiation drugs, the quotation must not surpass the transaction reference price to form a list of candidate drugs. If the drug quotation is equal to or below the transaction reference price, it can obtain 80% of the agreed task quantity from medical institutions. Additionally, for each additional 1 percentage point decrease beyond the transaction reference price, the agreed task volume proportion increases by 5 percentage points, with a maximum agreed proportion of 100%.
Procurement Cycle and National Guidelines
The procurement cycle for this VBP is set at two years. During this cycle, if the central government organizes the same VBP, national requirements will take precedence. Provincial winning results can be dynamically linked, ensuring flexibility and adherence to national standards in drug procurement.-Fineline Info & Tech
