Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Public procurement for dialysis in the Philippines has historically prioritized the lowest calculated bid price, often resulting in unrealistic budgets, failed biddings, reduced supplier participation, and the unintended dilution of quality. While this approach may generate short-term price reductions, it can ultimately increase long-term government costs through inferior outcomes, operational inefficiencies, repeated procurement failures, equipment breakdowns, and higher lifecycle expenditures. Consequently, broader considerations such as clinical outcomes, total cost of ownership, environmental sustainability, and organizational impact have remained underemphasized. Although the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) introduced mechanisms supportive of Value-Based Procurement (VBP), implementation remains inconsistent and poorly defined among procuring entities. This abstract examines how Philippine procurement processes can transition toward a VBP framework using dialysis procurement as a case study.
METHODS: A qualitative review of the Philippine dialysis procurement environment and the NGPA framework was conducted to identify gaps and opportunities for operationalizing VBP principles. International case studies from the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were likewise reviewed to assess practical applications of VBP in dialysis procurement.
RESULTS: Key VBP elements identified include: (1) early stakeholder engagement to define value and demand requirements; (2) development of outcome-oriented business cases and procurement strategies; (3) shifting from product-only procurement toward integrated solutions combining technologies and services; (4) incorporating evaluation criteria beyond acquisition cost, including total cost of ownership, sustainability, reliability, and patient outcomes; and (5) post-award performance monitoring to ensure sustained value delivery. International experiences demonstrated that value-driven procurement supports higher-quality dialysis care while preserving long-term financial sustainability.
CONCLUSIONS: The NGPA provides a significant opportunity for the Philippines to institutionalize Value-Based Procurement in dialysis. Achieving this requires moving beyond lowest-price evaluation toward a more holistic procurement framework centered on quality, outcomes, sustainability, and long-term public value.