The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) and National Health Commission (NHC) of China have released the “Notice on Improving the Working Mechanism for Volume-based Procurement (VBP) and its Implementation.” The notice outlines refined measures for hospital access, use, monitoring, examination, and feedback in relation to VBP drugs and consumables.
Urging Winning Bid Products into Hospitals
Local authorities are mandated to conduct investigations and sorting from the third month of each VBP batch’s implementation, urging medical institutions to complete access work as soon as possible. For institutions with policies restricting generic drugs to two specifications per molecule, it is encouraged to prioritize drugs by winning backup manufacturers when selecting drugs with the same generic name. Village clinics, private medical institutions, and retail pharmacies are also encouraged to participate in VBP, ensuring convenience for the public in purchasing winning bids.
Strengthening Usage Management
Medical institutions are required to improve internal assessment methods and salary systems, strengthen prescription reviews, and give reasonable priority to the use of winning bids. National medical centers and industry associations are encouraged to develop medication guidelines and conduct real-world research on winning bid drugs and consumables, providing scientific guidance for rational and prioritized use.
Implementing the Surplus Retention Policy
Regions are to provide surplus retention incentives to medical institutions for the medical insurance funds saved by national and provincial VBP rounds, in accordance with relevant regulations. Localities must connect the surplus retention policy with the incentive and restraint mechanism for payment method reform, reflecting positive incentives for medical institutions to purchase and use winning bid drugs and consumables.
Price Management and Monitoring Assessment
The management of online procurement prices of VBP varieties will be strengthened, emphasizing timely online procurement of VBP products based on winning prices. Measures such as suspending procurement and withdrawing from online procurement for non-winning bids will be taken. A monitoring mechanism will be established to dynamically monitor procurement progress and proportion of winning bids and medical institutions. Medical institutions failing to complete agreed procurement quantities or purchasing non-winning bids in proportion to prescribed requirements will be deemed to have failed the assessment.
Ramping Up Supply Security
A provincial-level consultation mechanism for VBP is to be established, with provincial healthcare security administration departments, health commission departments, medical institutions, and winning manufacturers maintaining smooth communication channels to address supply issues. Emphasis is placed on clarifying the specific requirements for the sustained and stable supply of winning bids and the exceptional measures for the reasonable selection of alternative drugs.
Promoting Collaborative Supervision
The document calls for connecting with the joint work mechanism for correcting unhealthy practices in pharmaceutical purchase and sales and medical services. It involves analyzing and judging clues of “rebate sales” and other unhealthy practices, taking measures such as reminders, education, interviews, and notifications for medical institutions that do not prioritize the use of winning bid drugs and consumables without reason. For serious cases, the healthcare security administration and health commission departments will conduct joint interviews and, if necessary, transfer relevant clues to promote the formation of guidance encouraging the priority use of winning bid drugs and consumables.-Fineline Info & Tech
