On 1 December 2020, the Value-Based Procurement Community of Practice, with the support of stakeholders EUREGHA, EHPPA, and MedTech Europe, organized the second European Value-Based Procurement Conference. The event aimed to explore the full potential of the ongoing shift towards Value-based Procurement, a practice that is putting patients’ needs at the centre of purchasing decisions, and attracted the attention of many European stakeholders and healthcare experts.
EUREGHA’s Chair Nick Batey, the first speaker of this virtual meeting, explored how things changed over the past year. Even though COVID-19 has slowed processes down, it has also underlined the importance of Value-Based Procurement by pushing it to the top of the political agenda. He mentioned that the pandemic introduced us to many innovative practices, but also renewed our interest in existing tools, such as teleconsultations. Nick Batey highlighted that we must overcome regional differences to create a common and functional community of practice. Important steps have already been taken by, for instance, H2020 project EURIPHI.
Mario Comba, Chair of European Health Public Procurement Alliance (EHPPA), introduced the audience to the Alliance, which is focused o creating innovative and high-quality procurement. During his introductory speech, Serge Bernasconi, CEO of MedTech Europe underlined the importance of sharing knowledge and information: “Implementing value-based procurement requires a drastic change in how people look at healthcare. The journey is long, but as a group, we can continue to learn from each other’s successes and to move forward” he said.
During the event, many regional representatives showed their vision of what Value-Based Procurement is and how they can implement this in their regions. Find the press release below and learn more about the event and outcomes here.
