Under the new regulations, the procurement model of medical consumables has undergone major adjustments, bringing about new changes for many parties

Medical insurance can be said to be an important line of defense for people's livelihood security. Every policy adjustment touches the hearts of thousands of households.

In 2025, medical insurance policies across the country are coming one after another. Now, Hainan has introduced a new medical insurance policy.

On July 29th, the Medical Security Bureau of Hainan Province issued the "Notice on Further Improving the Implementation of the Procurement Work of the Results of the Centralized Procurement (Continuation) of Medical Consumables", which, in essence, aims to set new rules for the centralized procurement of medical consumables, ensuring that hospitals, distributors, and manufacturers are all in position. There are also many new operations to shift the centralized procurement from merely focusing on "quantity" to emphasizing "quality" more.

As of the second quarter of 2025, the centralized bulk procurement of medical consumables across the country has covered all provinces, and Hainan has not been left behind. It has participated in 5 batches of national centralized procurement and 42 batches of inter-provincial alliance procurement involving 122 varieties, covering more than 20 therapeutic fields such as orthopedics, neurointervention, and in vitro diagnostics. The core of this "Notice" is to aim at three goals and solve the long-standing and difficult problems when centralized procurement is implemented.

The content of the "Notice"

• New projects participating in centralized procurement will, in principle, be arranged and implemented in batches in each quarter in a timely manner based on the progress of centralized procurement work in the leading provinces of each alliance and the implementation arrangements of centralized procurement projects in our province. Nine new alliance projects, including Anhui tumor marker reagents and Guangxi traditional Chinese medicine needles, will be included in the quarterly dispatch to achieve precise advancement of "implementing one as it is mature".

• For projects that have been implemented, if no new round of centralized procurement and quantity reporting work is carried out after the expiration of the procurement cycle, the procurement cycle will be automatically extended by one year.

• For varieties such as angiography catheters and vascular sheaths that overlap with multiple alliances, "the results of the subsequent centralized procurement will be implemented in accordance with the new standards." For instance, the atrial septal occluded device has been linked to the winning price of the Fujian Alliance, with a 47% reduction compared to the original price.

01Succession of centralized procurement varieties: Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach; precise advancement is reliable

The Notice states that the newly added centralized procurement projects will be implemented in batches and centrally in each quarter in accordance with the progress of the leading provinces of each alliance and Hainan's own arrangements. Nine new projects, including Anhui tumor marker reagents and Guangxi traditional Chinese medicine needles, have all been included in the quarterly dispatch, ensuring that "one is implemented as soon as it is mature". (The complete version of the table is attached at the end of the text.

For projects that have already been implemented, if a new round of quantity reporting has not been initiated by the end of the procurement cycle, it will be automatically extended by one year. If during this period the state or Hainan joins the centralized procurement of similar varieties of other provincial alliances, the new results shall apply. Take the neurosurgery centralized procurement project of the Henan Alliance as an example. It expired on April 17th. However, since the new reporting volume was not initiated, Hainan continued to use the original winning result until the alliance issued a new continuation notice.

This "dynamic succession" mechanism neither creates a policy gap nor leaves time for hospitals to adapt. For instance, the atrial septal occluder, following the centralized procurement price of the Fujian Alliance, has seen its price drop by 47% compared to the original, significantly reducing the burden on patients.

02Medical Institution Assessment: From "Completion volume" to "Standardized use", hospitals must also abide by the rules

For the first time, the "Notice" links the implementation of hospital centralized procurement with the amount of medical insurance expenses. If the hospital fails to complete the agreed purchase volume, the unfulfilled portion will be carried over to the next year. If high-priced non-selected products are purchased in violation of regulations, the provincial medical insurance bureau will hold a talk, order rectification, and in serious cases, deduct the medical insurance expenses for the next year, and even transfer the clues to the auditing and discipline inspection departments.

Behind this "hard constraint" lies the upgrade of the centralized procurement policy from "ensuring supply" to "ensuring quality". For instance, a certain top-tier hospital used to rely on imported high-value consumables, which led to the usage rate of the selected products in centralized procurement being less than 60%. According to the new regulations, hospitals not only have to make up for the unfinished quantities but may also have their medical insurance expenses deducted. This forces hospitals to optimize the structure of consumables.

However, the policy is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It encourages hospitals to purchase other products at reasonable prices in moderation on the basis of fulfilling the agreed volume to meet the diverse clinical needs. However, there is a prerequisite: the purchase volume of non-selected products should not exceed that of selected products to prevent "disguised price hikes".

03Distribution Enterprise Access: Only by strictly controlling the quantity can efficiency be improved

Previously, the distribution enterprises were "numerous and scattered", and the supply was unstable. In response to this issue, the "Notice" stipulates that for consumables (testing reagents) with the same registration certificate, the number of distribution enterprises in each county and city cannot exceed 10. In principle, the production enterprises cannot change the distribution enterprises within the procurement cycle (unless there is force majeure).

This move is precisely aimed at the "low-price and disorderly competition" in the delivery process. For instance, in the past, there was a city where over 30 delivery companies were competing for the market. As a result, some consumables were even out of supply. After the new regulations were implemented, the number of distribution enterprises was reduced to 8, and the supply response speed increased by 30%. The incident of supply interruption has never occurred again.

In addition, the policy also requires distribution enterprises to establish a circulation traceability system to ensure that the entire process of consumables is traceable. As long as the clinical use is affected due to distribution issues, the manufacturing enterprise must bear the responsibility. The provincial medical insurance bureau will also report to the leading province of the alliance to conduct a credit evaluation of the responsible enterprise.

Meanwhile, cities and counties such as Danzhou have also forwarded the "Notice", requiring hospitals within their jurisdictions to strictly implement requirements such as agreement signing, the use of selected products, and monitoring and assessment.

n summary, the core of the new regulations in Hainan this time is "three grasps and three relaxations" :

Focus on precise succession and implement policies in a one-size-fits-all manner - making policy implementation more flexible.

Focus on standardized use and prevent blind overuse - making hospital medication more reasonable;

Enhance delivery efficiency and eliminate disorderly competition - make the supply of consumables more stable.

This reform, in the final analysis, aims to make the procurement of medical consumables more scientific, ensuring that patients can access cost-effective and high-quality consumables while also promoting the healthy development of the entire industry. Next time you go to the hospital, you might as well pay more attention to whether the consumables used are selected through centralized procurement. After all, this is a big matter concerning our wallets and health!

Attachment: Table of the Centralized Bulk Procurement of Medical Consumables by Hainan Province in the Inter-Provincial Alliance