Identifying bottlenecks in the medical equipment procurement process of central equipment procurement agency of government of India (GOI) and suggesting remedial measures

Abstract

BackgroundProcurement of equipments is a time-consuming process with an invariably long lead time due to a long procurement procedure. Long lead time may sometimes result in the procurement of an old equipment and may affect the modernization drive of any healthcare organization. Especially in Govt hospitals, it is noted with concern that there is a long lead time in equipment procurement. MethodsThe study was conducted on procurement processes of 4 different hospitals of Public and Private Health sector. The study compared the timelines in different stages of the procurement process i.e. Acceptance of Necessity (AON) to Tender stage, Tender to Technical bid opening (TBO) stage, TBO to Final Bid opening (FBO) stage and FBO to Supply Order (SO) stage. ResultsThis study on the medical equipment procurement process of the Central Govt organisation highlights significant delays, particularly between TBO to FBO stage, compared to much shorter durations in state health services and private hospital. Time taken by Central Govt organisation is more as compared to other healthcare organisations and the findings are statistically significant with p value less than 0.05. ConclusionThe study identifies major bottlenecks, including technical evaluation and retendering due to non-compliance with technical requirements, and suggests that detailed technical specifications, vendor compliance matrix and pre bid meetings, can mitigate these issues. The study also recommends regular training for personnel involved in procurement, enhancing inherent financial powers of competent financial authorities (CFA) and speedy process of files by integrated financial advisors (IFA).