Decision to list a range of medical devices supplied by Merit Medical New Zealand Ltd

Hospital devices Decision

We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement for the supply of medical devices to DHBs.

What we’re doing

We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement with Merit Medical New Zealand Ltd (“Merit”) for a range of electrophysiology equipment and consumable medical devices.

This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 13 May 2021.

There have been no changes made to the proposal following consultation.

Who we think will be most interested

  • Suppliers and wholesalers
  • DHB staff
    • Catheterisation laboratory staff
    • DHB procurement and supply chain personnel

Details about this decision

In September 2020 PHARMAC issued a Registration of Interest (“ROI”) for ranges of medical devices, including electrophysiology equipment and consumables, considered for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

The ROI was undertaken to transfer the responsibility for management of electrophysiology equipment and consumables from New Zealand Health Partnerships to PHARMAC.

The ROI was for non-exclusive national agreements for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

PHARMAC has been working with suppliers to seek provisional agreements and this proposal is the latest to arise from these processes. We expect to consult on further provisional agreements with suppliers of electrophysiology equipment and consumables throughout 2021.

After completing the evaluation process and consulting on the provisional Agreements reached with Merit, PHARMAC has decided to list the medical devices in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 July 2021.

The list of products will be available on PHARMAC's website from 1 July 2021, in both PDF and Excel formats.

DHBs can continue to choose electrophysiology products they purchase, including those from other suppliers. DHBs that purchase these products from Merit must do so under the terms and conditions, including pricing, in the PHARMAC Agreements from 1 July 2021.

Our response to what you told us

We appreciate the time people took to respond to this consultation.

All consultation responses received by the closing date were considered in their entirety in making the decision to list medical devices supplied by Merit.

A summary of the main themes raised in feedback and our responses to the feedback are set out below:

Theme

Comment

No technical or resource impacts anticipated as a result of the proposal.

Noted.

Support for listing the medical devices and that the agreement is not for sole supply.

Noted.

If you have any questions about this decision, you can email us at enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz; or call our toll free number (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday) on 0800 66 00 50.