Gaining Advantage from Provincial Contracts

As every shopper knows, it's usually cheaper when you buy in bulk.

Applying the same logic, BCPRA and the renal community use the services of Medbuy to negotiate its contracts for medical supplies. Medbuy is a national organization that is able to leverage significant concessions from suppliers through group purchasing on behalf of its members. For the renal community, this translates into millions of dollars every year that can be used to improve renal care in the province.

For community and home hemodialysis equipment and supplies, our contracted supplier is Fresenius, while peritoneal dialysis equipment and supplies are provided under contract by Baxter.

Under their current provincial contracts, these suppliers together provide the renal network with value-added benefits amounting to $4.7 million a year. This money is held in a trust fund, with most of it allocated to the health authorities to support enhancements to their renal programs. The balance is directed every year to initiatives that help improve care for kidney patients across the province. For example, trust fund money was used to support two pilot projects that assessed the suitability of new renal patients for PD. Trust fund dollars are also used to support staff and patient education and have funded many other important initiatives.   

In addition to these value-add benefits, our membership in Medbuy also provides us with i-Sight, a software system for managing service and product issues related to our contracts with Baxter and Fresenius. The system effectively links our renal programs, their suppliers, and MedBuy. As a result, all contract-related problems and resolutions are handled more efficiently and are transparent to all parties involved.

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PHSA improves the health of British Columbians by seeking province-wide solutions to specialized health care needs in collaboration with BC health authorities and other partners. For more information, visit www.phsa.ca