Decision to list Medical Devices supplied by Intermed Medical Limited

This will include the following product ranges:

• anaesthesia small equipment and consumable devices (“anaesthesia products”);
• interventional radiology products;
• medical thermometers; and
• single use instruments.

In summary this will result in: 

• Intermed’s anaesthesia products, interventional radiology products, medical thermometers and single use instruments being listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 August 2018 under a national agreement that all DHBs may purchase under (“Agreement”).
• Estimated national savings of $16,000 per annum, assuming no change to current usage levels or product mix.
• DHBs continuing to be able to purchase other suppliers’ brands of anaesthesia products, interventional radiology products, medical thermometers and single use instruments. 

Any changes to the original proposal?

This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 14 May 2018.

During consultation Intermed notified that 27 products within the anaesthesia products and interventional radiology products categories included in the Agreement would not be provided moving forward. The Agreement was amended to remove these products from Schedule 1.

Who we think will be most interested

• Suppliers and Wholesalers
• DHB Staff:
  • Anaesthesia, respiratory and resuscitation staff
  • Interventional radiology staff
  • Staff in clinical areas where thermometers are used, including inpatient, outpatient and community settings
  • Staff in clinical areas where single use instruments are used, including theatre, procedural areas, and emergency departments
  • Clinical Engineers
  • Procurement and supply chain personnel.

Detail about this decision

PHARMAC issued Requests for Proposals (“RFPs”) for:

• anaesthesia products;
• interventional radiology;
• medical thermometers; and
• single use instruments.

The RFPs were for non-exclusive national agreements for listing in the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

After completing the RFP evaluation processes and consulting on the provisional Agreement reached with Intermed, PHARMAC has decided to list Intermed’s range of anaesthesia products, interventional radiology, medical thermometers and single use instruments in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 August 2018.

The list of products will be available on PHARMAC's website from 1 August 2018, in both a PDF document and an Excel spreadsheet

DHBs that purchase Intermed’s anaesthesia products, interventional radiology, medical thermometers and single use instruments must do so under the terms and conditions, and at the prices, included in the Agreement, from 1 August 2018.  DHBs can continue to choose which anaesthesia products, interventional radiology, medical thermometers and single use instruments they purchase.

The Agreement includes terms and conditions for training and education to be provided by Intermed, on the appropriate use of their medical devices, which is to be provided at times as agreed with individual DHBs.

Intermed’s anaesthesia products, interventional radiology, medical thermometers and single use instruments are the latest that PHARMAC has decided to list on the Pharmaceutical Schedule. We expect to consult on further proposed agreements in each of these categories over the coming months.

Our response to what you told us

We appreciate the time people took to consider this consultation.

All consultation responses received by 1 June 2018 were considered in their entirety in making a decision to approve Intermed’s provisional Agreement.

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

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.