Why are the medicines purchased in a centralized manner limited to poor quality? Many medicines can only be purchased with extra money.

The original intention of China's centralized medicine procurement system is to reduce drug prices and improve the quality of medical services through centralized procurement and bidding. However, in practice, the centralized procurement system has exposed a series of problems such as corruption, inefficiency and waste of medical insurance funds, which not only harms the interests of the public, but also affects the fair competition and healthy development of the pharmaceutical market.

The original intention and current situation of the centralized procurement system

The centralized procurement system aims to reduce the economic burden on patients and improve the service level of medical institutions by purchasing drugs through centralized bidding and lowering drug prices. However, this original intention has not been fully realized in actual operation. In some regions, centralized procurement has been corrupted, resulting in an opaque procurement process, uneven drug quality, and even affecting the safety of patients' medication.

Corruption

Corruption in centralized procurement is mainly manifested in the following aspects:

1. The bidding process is not transparent : In some regions, the bidding process is shady, and the results are often not based on drug quality and price, but on power and money. Some officials take advantage of their positions to accept bribes from pharmaceutical companies, sacrificing the public interest for personal gain.

2. Transfer of interests : There is transfer of interests between some medical institutions and pharmaceutical companies. Drug purchasing decisions are often manipulated by certain individuals or groups, resulting in low quality and inflated prices of purchased drugs, which undermines the efficiency of the use of medical insurance funds.

3. Inadequate supervision : During the implementation of the centralized procurement system, the supervision of regulatory authorities was insufficient, making it difficult to effectively curb corruption. Some local governments and relevant departments lacked a transparent supervision mechanism, resulting in corruption problems that persisted despite repeated prohibitions.

Inefficiency

The inefficiency of centralized procurement during implementation is also prominent:

1. Complex process : Centralized procurement involves multiple links and departments, and the process is complex and time-consuming. In some places, there are repeated approvals and layers of checks during the bidding process, which increases administrative costs and slows down the supply of drugs.

2. Waste of resources : Since centralized procurement requires a lot of human, material and financial resources, some regions have wasted resources during implementation. For example, some local governments have set up a large number of special agencies and personnel to ensure the smooth implementation of centralized procurement, which has increased administrative expenses.

3. Quality issues of winning drugs : Since the selection of winning drugs is often based on price as the main criterion, the quality and efficacy of the drugs are ignored, resulting in uneven quality of winning drugs. Some low-priced winning drugs are of poor quality, affecting the treatment effect of patients.

Waste of medical insurance funds

The imperfection of the centralized purchasing system has led to a waste of medical insurance funds:

1. Inflated drug prices : Due to corruption in the bidding process, the prices of some drugs in centralized procurement are inflated, far exceeding the reasonable market price, wasting a lot of medical insurance funds.

2. Duplicate purchasing : In some places, duplicate purchasing occurs during centralized purchasing, resulting in an inventory backlog of medicines and a waste of precious medical insurance resources.

3. Low drug utilization rate : Some winning drugs have low utilization rates due to quality problems or unsuitability for clinical use. These drugs are piled up in hospitals and pharmacies, resulting in a waste of medical insurance funds.

Improvement measures

In order to improve the corruption and inefficiency in centralized procurement and improve the efficiency of the use of medical insurance funds, the following improvement measures are worth considering:

1. Strengthen supervision : Establish and improve the supervision mechanism of centralized procurement, strengthen supervision and review of the bidding process, and ensure that the bidding process is fair, open and transparent. Crack down on corruption, establish an accountability mechanism, and severely punish corrupt elements.

2. Simplify the process : optimize the centralized procurement process, reduce the approval process, shorten the bidding cycle, and improve procurement efficiency. Introduce information technology and use big data and Internet technology to improve the transparency and efficiency of bidding and procurement.

3. Improve drug quality : In the bidding process, not only the price factor should be considered, but also the quality and efficacy of the drug should be taken into consideration. A drug quality evaluation system should be established to ensure that the quality of the winning drugs meets clinical needs.

4. Rational use of medical insurance funds : Strengthen the management of medical insurance funds to avoid duplicate purchases and waste of resources. Establish a drug use tracking mechanism to ensure the rational and effective use of drugs.

Conclusion

The original intention of China's centralized pharmaceutical procurement system is good, but in actual operation, there are problems such as corruption, inefficiency and waste of medical insurance funds. Through measures such as strengthening supervision, simplifying procedures, improving drug quality and rationally using medical insurance funds, these problems can be effectively improved, ensuring that the centralized procurement system truly benefits the majority of patients and promoting the healthy development of China's pharmaceutical market.

Our medicines