EUROHEALTH

42
Ensuring eeuitable access to cost-effective medicines and technology
CENTRALIZING PROCUREMENT OF
MEDICINES TO SAVE COSTS FOR
DENMARK
By: Dorthe Bartels
Summary: An important foundation of the WHO Regional Office for
Europe’s health systems strengthening strategy is to ensure equitable
access to cost-effective medicines and technology. Denmark has
taken important measures that have not only helped to save costs
but also ensured higher quality and more equitable use of expensive
medicines. Two initiatives are central: 1) a centralized structure, in
this case a public sector organization–Amgros–that carries out the
tendering procedures and bulk purchasing for all hospitals in Denmark;
and 2) the Danish Council for the Use of Expensive Hospital Medicines
that assesses the clinical costs and benefits of expensive medicines
and helps guide the selection of medicines by Amgros and clinicians.
By investing in and combining these two processes the Danish
government saved approximately €314 million in 2015.
Keywords: Procurement, Medicines, Equitable Access, Amgros, Denmark
Dorthe Bartels is Head of
Procurement, Department of
Tenders and Logistics, Amgros,
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Email: dbs@amgros.dk
Eurohealth — Vol.22 | No.2 | 2016
Introduction
Concerns about containing health costs
touch all governments. Pharmaceuticals
are among the highest expenses for
many governments and their population,
regardless of who picks up the cost of
medicines. Meanwhile, they are also
vital to improving health outcomes.
Decreasing costs of pharmaceuticals have
a direct impact on ensuring that the right
medicines reach patients at the right time.
Ministries of health or their delegated
authorities can play an important role
in negotiating prices so that the cost of
medicines is decreased, out-of-pocket
payments are reduced and the population
does not experience an onerous financial
burden. In Denmark, pharmaceuticals
account for 12.6% of the national health
budget and 55.6% of these costs are
incurred in hospitals.
Amgros ensures price and supply
Amgros * is the pharmaceutical
procurement service for the five regional
authorities in Denmark. It is a publicsector
organization owned by the regions.
Before establishing Amgros, each region
handled their own procurement of
pharmaceuticals; therefore, Amgros was
established in 1990 to create economies
of scale and to achieve administrative
savings by centralizing the procurement
of pharmaceuticals.
* http://www.amgros.dk/en/areas-of-work/tenders-andprocurement/