Innovative public procurement is a tool to promote innovation from the public sector, through the acquisition of innovative solutions or solutions in the development phase. Within this definition there are many cases, situations and realities, different processes and, above all, many actors that must be involved in each process to make it possible. With the aim of encouraging their incorporation into our public sector, CataloniaBio & HealthTech brought together representatives of all these actors in a Lessons Learned session on 1 February to address aspects, guidelines, and recommendations, based on the experience of real cases, aimed at making it easier for contracting bodies to incorporate innovation into tendering processes.

The moderation was led by Joan Escudero, Director of Digital Health at Evidenze, who spoke with Patricia Ripoll, President of the VISIBLE Foundation; Laura Sampietro, Head of Innovation and New Technology Assessment at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; and Rossana Alessandrello, Director of Value-Based Purchasing at the Catalan Health Quality and Assessment Agency (AQuAS). The session was held in the Farreras Valentí room at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, and was welcomed by Dr. Antoni Castells, Director of Care at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.

What is it and what makes it different from a purchase?

Beyond the strict definition, for Rossana Alessandrello speaks about of instruments that will serve to respond to a demand. The important thing is that this demand is the result of a work process in which the needs have been defined, which will structure the whole process, and which will comply with all that is established in public institutions. Alessandrello wanted to highlight the element of risk inherent in this innovative process: the entity that contracts it and the company that will offer to develop it are both assuming some.

Another differentiating factor, according to Laura Sampietro, is that it is not just a matter of contracting, but a longer process that involves new departments, more teams, a fact that represents an organisational challenge for the hospital and requires stronger clinical leadership. It is a process that involves changes in the contracting organisation and changes in the supplying company; both parties must modify the established dynamics.

Focused on the patient and on adding value

Care processes have changed and continue to change in order to place the patient at the centre. Patricia Ripoll believes that we still need to take a few more steps and stop talking about working "for the patient" but rather "with the patient". Innovation can have different meanings for healthcare staff and for patients, who will always have their sights set on quality of life to mark the metrics of value. Innovative processes, and innovative public procurement, will be better with the incorporation of the patient's view.

Technology is not the focus but the vehicle, an innovative process of this type must add value to care. It also adds value if it incorporates strong leadership, diverse and multidisciplinary teams and, in particular, incorporates the patient's vision. The latter, as well as the improvement of evaluation processes, are some of the major challenges that arise in the context of innovative public procurement in the health sector.

From a more open vision, it is also important to include and study scalability in projects, with the ultimate goal of optimisation, thinking beyond the hospital centre.

Lessons learned

Before opening the conversation with the attendees, nearly forty professionals from the sector, a brief summary of the lessons learned. For example, the importance of leadership and the need to be very clear from the outset about the roles, objectives, and track record in the process, which also allow for proper measurement and evaluation. It is also important to talk about needs and desires, and to describe the demand in these terms, remembering that technology must be the vehicle for providing a response (and not the protagonist of the process). And we must always remember that the aim is to transform the quality of life of the ecosystem: patients, carers and professionals.

Among the public's questions, above all, there was concern about the best way to establish relations between hospital centres and companies in order to promote these joint processes. Precisely along these lines, the session ended with a networking space for the attendees to share experiences, questions and contacts.

The next Lessons Learned sessions will take place on Tuesday 21 February, focusing on unlocking the market access code for medtech products.

We look forward to the next Lessons Learned!