NMIB China: Centralised procurement of dental implants undergoes new reforms

Beijing: The local centralized procurement of dental implants is undergoing new reforms in the first half of 2022, according to the National Medical Insurance Bureau (NMIB) of China.

In line with the State Council’s regular policy briefing, the National Medical Security Administration will “vigorously promote” reforming the centralized procurement of drugs and high-value medical consumables. This will include the gradual expansion of centralized procurement of high-value medical consumables at the national and provincial levels for orthopedic consumables, drug balloons, and dental implants.

At present, a dental implant has to go through multiple channels from the factory to the hospital. Along the chain are various middle-persons, including: national general agents and prefecture-level city agents.

“Dental implants are an important treatment for missing teeth, and there is a great social demand,” said Chen Jinfu, deputy director of the National Medical Security Administration.

“The National Medical Security Administration has been deploying dental implants since the beginning of 2021. The Sichuan province will also be organizing an inter-provincial alliance to study dental implants.”

According to the report, the centralized procurement procedures are based on feedback supplied by clinics, enterprises and localities.

The authorities are exploring ways to streamline the charging of items in a bid to limit the independent pricing and various pricing scales of public hospitals.

This series of measures are aimed ay reducing the price of dental implants and help patients reduce the medical burden. At the same time, the penetration rate of dental implants will increase significantly, says the report, and the quality of life of the masses will be significantly improved.

According to Chen, the more important aspect for centralized procurement in the future will be the rules.

“The characteristics of different tenders are very complex,” he says. “It must meet both product quality requirements and clinical needs, and it is necessary to effectively allow enterprises and patients to share the results of the reform.”