Hybrid model: a promising type of public procurement in the healthcare sector of the European Union.

The management of health supplies in public hospitals has been a major concern of national and European institutions over time, often being a field of reforms and regulatory interventions. Health procurement systems constitute complex decision-making and supply chain management mechanisms of public hospitals, involving suppliers, health providers, administrators and political bodies. Due to this complexity, the first important decision to be taken when designing a procurement system, concerns the degree of centralization, namely to what extent the decision-making power on the healthcare procurement (what, how and when) will be transferred either to a central public authority established for this purpose, or to the competent local authorities. In this perspective, we attempt to analyse the types of public procurement in the healthcare sector of the European Union, in terms of degree of centralization. Employing a narrative approach that summarizes recent interdisciplinary literature, this perspective finds that the healthcare procurement systems of the EU Member States, based on the degree of centralization, are categorized into three types of organizational structures: Centralized, Decentralized and Hybrid procurement. Each structure offers advantages and disadvantages for health systems. According to this perspective, a combination of centralized and decentralized purchases of medical supplies represents a promising hybrid model of healthcare procurement organization by bringing the benefits of two methods together.

Data-driven analysis of Romania's renewable energy landscape and investment uncertainties.

In recent years, there has been a significant transformation in the energy sector in the European Union as a whole. The shift towards producing renewable energy has had a significant impact on the economic development of most countries, requiring substantial investments through public procurement. This study aims to analyse the evolution of the energy sector in Romania from an economic perspective by using a data-driven approach. The data used in this research is collected from publicly available sources and pertains to energy production and public acquisitions in Romania, carried out through the Electronic Public Procurement System. By using a mixed approach, combining documentary analysis, literature review, and predictive modelling, the study reveals a shift towards more sustainable energy options. There is a significant decrease in the production of thermal power and an increase in solar and wind power. The findings provide an overview and potential scenario of Romania's electricity production levels in 2023, shedding light on the relative uncertainties associated with such a transition. The findings also suggest a clear and growing commitment in Romania towards the adoption of alternative energy sources, as reflected in the trends of public procurement. These procurement trends offer a valuable perspective on policy-making, investment planning, and progress monitoring in Romania's energy transition. Despite the inherent uncertainties in such a transition, the study demonstrates Romania's potential in terms of diverse sources for electricity production as well as the role of public procurement in achieving energy transformation.

Integrating environmental considerations in digital health technology assessment and procurement: Stakeholders' perspectives.

Background: Digital health technologies (DHTs) are promoted as means to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare systems. However, a growing literature is shedding light on the highly polluting nature of the digital industry and how it exacerbates health inequalities. Thus, the environmental footprint of DHTs should be considered when assessing their overall value to healthcare systems. The objectives of this article are to: (1) explore stakeholders' perspectives on integrating the environmental impacts of DHTs in assessment and procurement practices; (2) identify the factors enabling or constraining the operationalisation of such a change; and (3) encourage a constructive dialogue on how environmental issues fit within healthcare systems' push for more DHTs. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 stakeholders involved in DHTs in a large Canadian academic healthcare centre. Data were collected and analysed through a mixed deductive-inductive process using a framework derived from diffusion of innovations theories. Results: The integration of the environmental impact of DHTs in assessment and procurement is contingent upon key micro-meso-macrosystemic factors that either enable or constrain changes in practices and processes. Innovation (micro) factors include stakeholders' recognition of the environmental issue and the extent to which it is feasible for them to address the environmental impact of DHTs. Organisational (meso) factors include the organisation's culture, leadership, policies, and practices, as well as the expertise and professional skillsets available. Finally, external (macro) factors include political and regulatory (e.g., national strategy, laws, standards, norms), economic (e.g., business models, public procurement), and professional and scientific factors (e.g., evidence, methodologies, clinical guidelines). Conclusion: Considering the environmental impact of DHTs depends on micro-meso-macrosystemic factors involving a variety of stakeholders and levels of governance, sometimes with divergent or even antagonistic objectives and expectations. It highlights the importance of better understanding the complexity inherent in the environmental shift in healthcare.

Drug treatment service procurement: A systematic review of models, goals, and outcomes.

Aim: To explore the goals and outcomes of public procurement of drug treatment services in OECD countries. The study explores how these complex services are procured and delivered. Methods and data: A systematic review of the literature (1990-2020) identified four partly overlapping models of drug treatment service procurement that are here labelled traditional, value-based, outcome-based, and innovative. Results: Even though different forms of drug treatment services procurement are common, only 12 empirical studies that focused on procurement were found. The four models differ in their approaches to design and performance specifications and the role of competition and collaboration in the co-creation of value. Conclusions: Competition and incentives improve neither the efficiency nor the quality or the outcomes of complex drug treatment services. Whereas many studies focus on payment mechanisms, there are important research gaps that relate to the co-creation of value with and for the service-users and other stakeholders.

The Gap in Sustainable Food Services in Public Institutions: The Perceptions of Young Consumers from Public Universities in the Madrid Region (Spain).

The agri-food system needs to transition into a more balanced system that takes into account economic, social, and environmental factors. Young people are a key demographic group to consider as they are open to new trends of consumption, including sustainable buying practices. Public universities can play a significant role in promoting sustainable and healthy eating habits among students. In this paper, we focus on the perceptions of young people regarding sustainable food in the Madrid Region. We conducted a survey using a questionnaire-based approach among 1940 students in 2022. The results highlight that young consumers are highly concerned about food sustainability. They perceive sustainability as local and non-processed foods. However, this perception varies among young consumers, and we identified five different consumer profiles. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis provide insights into potential actions that universities can take to promote sustainable and healthy eating habits among students.

Greening procurement: Exploring evolving practices in an Irish university.

Including green criteria in the public procurement of goods and services requires increased expertise, new methodologies, more significant monitoring efforts and more support towards innovation. These added complexities influence procurement professionals and their everyday practices. This article explores the under-researched issue of practitioner-led beliefs, attitudes, and their accounts of Green Public Procurement (GPP). We delve into a qualitative case study of University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland to explore the journey of procurement professionals in introducing GPP across the various sectors and departments of the university. We draw from interviews, a horizon scanning workshop, and secondary materials to capture and build on the expertise of a broad range of staff in UCC with experience in this area. We use this collective viewpoint to make sense of GPP and to position such views relative to ongoing policy priorities, looking at past, present, and future outlooks. The research shows that efforts have been made to introduce green criteria in new tenders. These gradually became wider opportunities to develop competencies, skills, and stimuli to implement more impactful strategies. The research also shows underdeveloped practices around supporting innovation, monitoring, and post-award evaluation. Overall, the paper offers a unique perspective based on the day-to-day practice of public procurement practitioners. While the case study is geographically bound and therefore presents difficulties in replicating findings, it provides a new lens for researching GPP adoption through interaction with practitioners.

Maintaining innovation: How to make sewer robots and innovation policy work in Barcelona.

This article explores how innovation logics infiltrate problem and value definitions in maintenance and repair, and how innovation itself depends on considerable, often invisible care work beyond the seemingly smooth entrepreneurial narratives. We build on a growing body of work in STS that investigates the relationship between innovation and maintenance and repair. This literature argues that the obsession with innovation crowds out attention to maintenance, that innovation creates future obligations of maintenance that are often not factored into technological promises, and that ordinary maintenance and repair practices are often innovative in their own right. Empirically, we explore a case where maintenance and repair become the explicit target of high-level, high-tech innovation initiatives and how, as a result, innovation logics colonize maintenance practices. Conceptually, we explore how repair and maintenance sensitivities can be applied to innovation practices to reveal the invisible work needed to align innovation instruments with socio-material and institutional configurations. Drawing on an in-depth case study of sewer inspection robots in Barcelona, we find that attempts to innovate maintenance require a symmetric effort to maintain innovation. In our case study, innovation processes as deployed by the European Commission, research consortia, and companies required substantial repair work to function reliably in specific settings. Our study shows how divergent understandings of the public good in innovation and maintenance contexts may lead to significant tensions, and that much can be gained analytically from not treating innovation and maintenance as opposites.

The home bias in procurement. Cross-border procurement of medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Public procurement markets are often national a general agreement national preferencing. I exploit shocks occurring during the Covid-19 pandemic to two important factors, crisis urgency, measured through local infection rates, and increased buyer discretion, to study home bias in public procurement. Two causal difference-in-difference analyses on novel data for medical supplies in Europe show that home bias is not inevitable. An increase in local infection rates by one standard deviation locally increases the share of cross-border procurement by 19.3 percentage points over a baseline of 1.5 percent. Also, deregulation that allowed for buyer discretion caused cross-border procurement to increase by more than 35 percentage points. A simple theoretical model systematizes these findings.

Current Practices and Opportunities for More Sustainable Public Food Procurement: A Qualitative Study among Danish Municipalities and Regions.

Public food procurement has been emphasized as a powerful tool to promote a healthier and more sustainable food system, but there is still a long way to go to reach full potential. This study aimed to investigate practices and opportunities for sustainable and healthy public food procurement. A qualitative cross-sectional study was performed among Danish municipalities and regions stratified and randomly selected to cover standard practice (n = 17). In addition, interviews were performed among selected best-practice municipalities (n = 5) providing examples of ambitious goals and well-defined processes for obtaining sustainable food procurement. Large differences were observed in the cross-sectional analysis in relation to policy support and goals for sustainable food procurement, including organic purchase. Generally, there was a great attentiveness to reduce food waste and many valued the use of local food, especially among rural municipalities, whereas experience with climate impact reduction and shifts towards more plant-based menus was still in an early implementation stage. Results suggest a possible synergy effect between the use of organic food and efforts to reduce food waste and climate impact and emphasize the importance of local government policies to promote healthy and sustainable food procurement. Enabling factors to move sustainable food procurement forward are discussed.

Local food procurement by hospitals: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Local food procurement by hospitals is gaining traction as governments and advocacy groups seek to influence food systems and strengthen local communities, but there is little empirical evidence as to its practical application or efficacy. The aims of this review were to describe the extent, range and nature of local food procurement models in healthcare foodservices, and to understand the barriers and enablers to implementation, including from the perspective of stakeholders across the supply chain. METHOD: A scoping review was conducted following the protocol published in the Open Science Framework Registration (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/T3AX2). Five electronic databases were searched for the following concepts: 'hospital foodservice', 'local food procurement practices', 'the extent, range and nature' and/or 'the barriers and enablers of procurement'. Eligible peer-reviewed original research published in English from the year 2000 was included following a two-step selection process. RESULTS: The final library included nine studies. Most studies (7 of 9) were from the United States. Three studies used survey methods and reported high rates (58%-91%) of US hospital participation in local food procurement. Studies offered minimal description of local procurement models, but two models, conventional ('on-contract') or off-contract, were typically used. Barriers to local food procurement included restricted access to suitable local food supply, limited kitchen resources and inadequate technology to trace local food purchase thereby limiting evaluation capabilities. Enablers included organisational support, passionate champions and opportunistic, incremental change. CONCLUSION: There is a paucity of peer-reviewed studies describing local food procurement by hospitals. Details of local food procurement models were generally lacking: categorisable as either purchases made 'on-contract' via conventional means or 'off-contract'. If hospital foodservices are to increase their local food procurement, they require access to a suitable, reliable and traceable supply, that acknowledges their complexity and budgetary constraints.

Portuguese public procurement data for construction (2015-2022).

The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector currently exhibits a significant scarcity of systematised information in databases (DB). This characteristic is a relevant obstacle to implementing new methodologies in the sector, which have proven highly successful in other industries. In addition, this scarcity also contrasts with the intrinsic workflow of the AEC sector, which generates a high volume of documentation throughout the construction process. To help solve this issue, the present work focuses on the systematisation of the data related to the contracting and public tendering procedure in Portugal, summarising the steps to obtain and process this information through the use of scraping algorithms, as well as the subsequential translation of the gathered data into English. The contracting and public tendering procedure is one of the most well-documented procedures at the national level, having all its data available as open-access. The resulting DB comprises 5214 unique contracts, characterised by 37 distinct properties. This paper identifies future development opportunities that can be supported by this DB, such as the application of descriptive statistical analysis techniques and/or Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, namely, Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), to improve construction tendering.

Tecnologías de información para lucha anticorrupción: análisis de la contratación pública costarricense / Tecnologias da informação para a luta contra a corrupção: análise da contratação pública costarriquenha / Information technologies for countering corruption: analysis of the Costa Rican public procurement system

Resumen La corrupción es un fenómeno con consecuencias desastrosas para el bienestar económico, social y político de nuestras sociedades. En particular, la contratación pública es vulnerable debido al elevado valor económico de sus transacciones. La presente investigación analiza el rol que las tecnologías de información pueden jugar en la lucha anticorrupción. Desarrollamos un caso basado en datos abiertos de contrataciones públicas en Costa Rica, con la finalidad de identificar los conceptos principales asociados al sistema de información subyacente. El caso muestra el potencial de las herramientas tecnológicas de análisis de redes sociales para contrarrestar la complejidad de las redes de corrupción. Asimismo, se evidencia la necesidad de disponer de un ecosistema rico en datos anticorrupción, preferiblemente en formato abierto.

Resumo: A corrupção é um fenômeno com consequências desastrosas para o bem-estar econômico, social e político das nossas sociedades. Em particular, a contratação pública é um fator altamente vulnerável devido ao alto valor econômico de suas transações. A pesquisa analisa o papel que as tecnologias da informação podem desempenhar no combate à corrupção. Além disso, desenvolvemos um caso baseado em dados abertos sobre compras públicas na Costa Rica, a fim de identificar os principais conceitos associados ao sistema de informação subjacente. O caso mostra o potencial das ferramentas tecnológicas de análise de redes sociais para ir de encontro a complexidade das redes de corrupção. Mostra também a necessidade de um ecossistema diversificado e sustentável de dados anticorrupção - preferencialmente em formato aberto.

Abstract Corruption has disastrous consequences for the well-being of societies. In particular, public procurement is a highly vulnerable factor due to the high value of its transactions. This research analyzes the role that information technologies can play in the fight against corruption. We developed a case based on open data on public procurement in Costa Rica to identify the main concepts associated with the underlying information system. The case shows the potential of technological tools for social network analysis to counter the complexity of corruption networks. It also shows the need for a rich ecosystem of anti-corruption data - preferably in an open format.

Understanding public procurement within the health sector: a priority in a post-COVID-19 world.

Every year, over 250,000 public authorities in the European Union (EU) spend about 14% of GDP on the purchase of services, works and supplies. Many are in the health sector, a sector in which public authorities are the main buyers in many countries. When these purchases exceed threshold values, EU public procurement rules apply. Public procurement is increasingly being promoted as a tool for improving efficiency and contributing to better health outcomes, and as a policy lever for achieving other government goals, such as innovation, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, sustainable green growth and social objectives like public health and greater inclusiveness. In this paper, we describe the challenges that arise within health care systems with public procurement and identify potential solutions to them. We examined the tendering of pharmaceuticals, health technology, and e-health. In each case we identify a series of challenges relating to the complexity of the procurement process, imbalances in power on either side of transactions and the role of procurement in promoting broader public policy objectives. Finally, we recommend several actions that could stimulate better procurement, and suggest a few areas where further EU cooperation can be pursued.

A by-product of big government: the attenuating role of public procurement for the effectiveness of grants-based entrepreneurship policy.

We study the contextual role of public procurement for the effectiveness of grants-based entrepreneurship policy. Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, we argue that partaking in procurement can erode grant effectiveness by relaxing a firm's preexisting financial constraints and diverting managerial attention away from market-centered resource configurations. To test our hypothesis, we use detailed firm-level data from Slovenia and combine matching with difference-in-differences. When firms are not involved in procurement, all investigated types of grants meet the intended policy goals, apart from productivity growth. In contrast, when firms participate in procurement, small-business grants exhibit generally weaker effects, R&D grants fail to have any impact, and employment grants lastingly reduce firm productivity. Given that public procurement occupies a large footprint in many economies, our analysis highlights an unintended adverse by-product of big government and underscores the limits of state capitalism. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11187-023-00788-w.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11187-023-00788-w.

This study explores how public procurement shapes the effectiveness of grants-based entrepreneurship policy. If procurement loosens firm's preexisting financial constraints or induces businesses to prioritize contracting with the government over other market opportunities, then public procurement could reduce the effectiveness of government grants. Empirical evidence from Slovenia supports this perspective. When firms do not partake in procurement, all examined types of grants achieve their intended policy goals, except for productivity growth. However, when firms are involved in public procurement, the effectiveness of the grants diminishes dramatically: small-business grants have weaker effects in general, R&D grants do not exert any impact, and employment grants decrease firm productivity. Thus, the principal implication of this study is that public procurement can hamper the effectiveness of grants-based entrepreneurship policy. The research also contributes to the understanding of the unintended consequences of big government and the limitations of state capitalism.

Corruption in healthcare: a view from the pandemic.

Corruption in healthcare has become transnational and intersectoral in nature; leading countries around the world have become vulnerable and insufficiently prepared to address health crises. The article deals with topical issues of corruption in healthcare during the Covid-19 pandemic in public and private sectors. By comparing different ratings, we concluded that there is a correlation between the level of corruption and the average annual income of the respective state, the observance of human rights and democratic standards in the context of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Public procurement of artificial intelligence systems: new risks and future proofing.

Public entities around the world are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic decision-making systems to provide public services or to use their enforcement powers. The rationale for the public sector to use these systems is similar to private sector: increase efficiency and speed of transactions and lower the costs. However, public entities are first and foremost established to meet the needs of the members of society and protect the safety, fundamental rights, and wellbeing of those they serve. Currently AI systems are deployed by the public sector at various administrative levels without robust due diligence, monitoring, or transparency. This paper critically maps out the challenges in procurement of AI systems by public entities and the long-term implications necessitating AI-specific procurement guidelines and processes. This dual-prong exploration includes the new complexities and risks introduced by AI systems, and the institutional capabilities impacting the decision-making process. AI-specific public procurement guidelines are urgently needed to protect fundamental rights and due process.

Competitive tenders on analogue hospital pharmaceuticals in Denmark 2017-2020.

BACKGROUND: Competitive tenders on pharmaceuticals are one of the most effective cost-containment instruments in healthcare systems. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated, among other things, in markets for generic medicine and biosimilars. In Denmark, an internationally unique model for competitive tenders on analogue substitutable pharmaceuticals has been developed and implemented for all public hospitals. METHODS: We obtained data on all analogue competitive tenders carried out by the Danish Medicines Council from its foundation on January 1, 2017, to October 9, 2020. We calculated univariate descriptive statistics, pairwise correlations and made a multiple regression analysis on tender savings. RESULTS: Average annual saving on hospital pharmaceutical purchase prices was 44.1% ranging from 0.4% to 92.8% between therapeutic areas and areas of indication. There was a significant positive correlation between tender savings and the number of competitors participating in the tender, and a significant negative correlation between tender savings and the number of days since market authorization. CONCLUSIONS: This study finds analogue tenders to be similar in effect and mechanism to competitive tenders in markets for generic medicine and biosimilars. It supports the increasing number of empirical findings that competitive tendering has a high potential to generate substantial savings on healthcare budgets.

Innovations in small businesses: do public procurement contracts and intellectual property rights matter?

Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are known to drive innovations, economic growth, and job creation. Numerous studies have analysed small businesses' innovations using new products and processes, with indicators such as funding, innovation activities, and collaborations. However, other vital determinants such as public procurement contracts and intellectual property rights protections capable of influencing innovations have not received enough scholarly attention, especially in the context of Central European countries. This paper aims to examine whether public procurement contracts, market orientations, public subsidies, intellectual property rights, and other firm characteristics shape small businesses' innovation outcomes in the Czech Republic. The results based on a cross-sectional sample of 4,193 small businesses from the Community Innovation survey 2014 prove that European utility models positively influence major and minor forms of innovation but not general innovations. Our findings also show that foreign procurement contracts matter for small businesses' major and minor forms of innovation but not general innovations. Our results further demonstrate that exporting, collaborations with universities and other public research organizations, and external research and development positively influence major and minor forms of innovation but not general innovations. The results on the average treatment effects confirm that firms' collaborations with universities and public research organizations have the highest additionality effects on major and minor forms of innovations. Finally, we find evidence that firm size and belonging to the enterprise group positively impact small businesses' general innovations. We conclude with practical implications for policymakers and firm managers in Visegrad economies on measures that could be adopted to develop and improve upon existing and new policy initiatives to increase the effect of major and minor innovation outcomes.

Creating a marketing mix model for the marketing of medical devices through public procurement.

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to the knowledge in the field of marketing of medical devices in the public sector. The research problem is based on verifying the correlations between the elements of the 4P marketing mix, after-sales activities and their influence on the preparation of tender documentation in the marketing of medical devices to social welfare institutions. In the process of marketing products through public procurement, the same attention is devoted to the after-sales activities as marketing mix elements (4P). We created a marketing mix model for the marketing of medical devices through public procurement.

Development aid contracts database: World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and EuropeAid.

This article presents a global database of government contracts funded by the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and EuropeAid, principally from the years 2000-2017. The contract-level data were directly collected from the official contract publication sites of these organisations using webscraping methods. While the source publication formats are diverse both over time and across publishers, we standardized and harmonized the datasets so that they can be analysed jointly. The datasets contain key information on the contracting parties (e.g. buyer and supplier names) the contract's content (e.g. contract value and product description) and details of the contracting process (e.g. contract award date or the procedure followed). In addition, it also contains information on the development aid projects of the contracts (e.g. project title and value). The data has wide reuse potential for researchers looking for detailed micro-level information on how major development aid spending takes place and what impacts it has. This database underlies the research article "Anti-corruption in aid-funded procurement: Is corruption reduced or merely displaced?" [1] which develops corruption risk indicators using the dataset presented.