How to balance high quality and low price? A "price war" broke out after centralized purchasing of dental consumables
Since the country implemented centralized bulk purchasing of dental consumables in the first half of this year, the prices of originally high-value consumables have dropped significantly, and many citizens have benefited from this. However, after centralized purchasing, the price of consumables in the dental market has fallen and a "price war" has begun. Recently, reporters found that half a dental implant on the market only costs 7,800 yuan, and a single dental implant only costs 580 yuan... The low prices are lower than glasses. Worrying about the quality of basic medical services, some patients develop inflamed and loose teeth within two months of implantation, causing repeated medical visits to be unbearable. The centralized purchasing policy can effectively reduce the prices of medicines and consumables, but how to truly benefit patients while achieving low-cost, high-quality, cost-controlled medical insurance?
As the population's demand for health and medical services continues to increase, the importance of oral medical services has become increasingly prominent. Relevant statistics show that by the end of 2022, the market size of my country's dental medical industry has grown to 170.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.1% from 2021. Referring to history, it is expected that the compound growth rate from 2022 to 2025 will exceed 12%. By the end of 2025, the market size of my country's oral medical industry is expected to grow to 270 billion yuan, and the market prospect of the oral medical industry is broad.
In recent years, centralized purchasing, as one of the most effective ways to reduce the prices of drugs and consumables, has changed the landscape of my country's health industry. Just in the first half of this year, the centralized procurement of dental implant consumables implemented by Sichuan was also called "the most difficult centralized procurement in history." This centralized purchase gathered the demand from nearly 18,000 medical institutions across the country, reaching 2.87 million dental implant systems, accounting for approximately 72% of the annual number of dental implants in the country.
The results of the entire centralized procurement are clear: the average winning price of the products to be selected dropped to more than 900 yuan, an average decrease of 55% compared with the median purchase price before the centralized procurement. For the field of dental implants, the overall fee includes the full-process service fee and consumables, and is capped at 4,500 yuan per tooth through the medical service fee. Experts also added that the situation in Shanghai is slightly different. In top medical institutions such as the National Center for Oral Medicine, medical service fees can increase by 20%.
It was originally a good thing, but the reporter found that after the reduction of dental consumables, the vicious low-price competition among dental medical institutions became extremely fierce. Some institutions engage in a "low-price war" to reduce costs, and illegal operations reduce the quality of medical services and harm the rights and interests of patients. During the interview, some patients said that the implanted teeth broke down as soon as they were used, and repeated repairs kept adding money, gradually forming invisible consumption; some institutions even hired assistants who had not obtained the medical practitioner qualification certificate to violate the Medical Practitioner Law to give patients dental implants, causing dental implants to patients. future trouble.
How to take quality into account when consumable prices are reduced? Wang Haiyin, director of the Health Technology Assessment Research Department of the Shanghai Hygiene and Health Development Research Center, said in an interview that the overall price reduction of oral consumables after centralized purchasing can reach 70%, and the winning bidders are basically leading companies. However, there is indeed a big difference between the centralized purchasing of consumables and the centralized purchasing of drugs. In short, the centralized purchasing of drugs needs to pass consistency evaluation. Although the possibility of winning the bid at a low price for consumables is not high, there is a lack of corresponding evaluation and comparison.
From the current point of view, although the leading company that won the bid believes that the quality is better than the reference group, there is still relatively little evidence. How to provide value support through real-world data and evidence in terms of efficacy is to achieve better effects of centralized procurement. key link. Experts therefore put forward: At present, the centralized purchasing of consumables is mainly based on market coverage grouping, and quality considerations should also be taken into consideration to avoid "bad money driving out good money" in oral-related diagnosis and treatment services.
Centralized purchasing of dental consumables is a general trend. When it brings price dividends, how to maintain the healthy development of the industry? In September this year, the National Health Commission, the National Medical Insurance Administration, the State Administration of Financial Supervision, the State Food and Drug Administration and others jointly issued the "Notice on Further Promoting Dental Medical Services and Security Management", which clearly stated: Strengthen the supply security management of dental consumables ; Increase the supply capacity of dental medical services and improve the level of service standardization. At the same time, it is emphasized to strengthen the construction of dental medical institutions, strictly implement various medical system regulations, and standardize the provision of dental diagnosis and treatment services.
Standardizing services, controlling prices, and tightening the threshold for employees are key steps. The reporter learned that some socially responsible non-public medical institutions have clearly defined technical operation thresholds. Previously, the Moore Dental Hospital Group, a designated unit of medical insurance and a chain brand, made it clear that all doctors who perform implant surgeries must obtain a medical practitioner qualification certificate, work in clinical practice for 5 years and pass strict ratings within the group before they can perform implant surgeries. Wang Yan, vice president of medical of the group, said, "Dental implant surgery requires professional skills and experience. If the surgery fails or other problems occur, the patient may need to undergo treatment again, which will increase medical expenses and time costs." In addition, the hospital also responded The national medical insurance policy launches tooth cleaning discounts and other activities.
The reporter also learned that although the market share of European and American brands has declined in this centralized purchase of dental consumables, the share of Korean brands has increased. Domestic brands account for about 10% and have not yet achieved a breakthrough. Wang Haiyin finally said that under the current national conditions of our country, medical institutions must strictly standardize services, medical and industrial cross-research and development of more domestic consumables, the price of centralized consumables purchasing has dropped, and there is a positive interaction between them, the industry can continue to develop healthily and ultimately benefit more people.
