To curb price disparity: Punjab forms panel to streamline knee implant tender process

The move comes amid reports that vendors were ‘overcharging and quoting different prices’ for government hospitals across the state while selling the same implants at a lower rate to private hospitals.

The Punjab government has formed a committee to bring uniformity to the tendering process of procurement of total knee replacement (TKR) implants and fix loopholes. The move comes amid reports that vendors were ‘overcharging and quoting different prices’ for government hospitals across the state while selling the same implants at a lower rate to private hospitals.

Government hospitals cater to TKR surgeries, covered under Ayushman Bharat Sehat Bima Yojna, and each health facility can individually float tenders for procurements.

Health minister Dr Balbir Singh said that government was mindful of this. “We are trying to fix it. Punjab health department has constituted a committee to bring uniformity in the tendering process of TKR implants to fix the loopholes,” he said.

Government hospitals cater to TKR surgeries, covered under Ayushman Bharat Sehat Bima Yojna, and each hospital can individually float tenders for procurements. According to bills accessed by HT, the private vendors were quoting ‘inflated’ prices to government hospitals in the absence of a uniform tendering process and a lack of standardised specifications of the implants. There are also allegations that government doctors were colluding with the private vendors. The state health department has already ordered an audit of the TKR cases, and an inquiry committee has started the investigation into the matter.

For example, in Bathinda, a private vendor is learned to have been providing implants for TKR at ₹50,000 to the government hospital under the scheme, while the same vendor, as per the bills accessed by HT, is selling the implant between ₹30,000 to ₹35,000 to private hospitals. In another instance, the two government hospitals in Patiala were purchasing implants from the same vendor at ₹57,750 and ₹44,100, respectively.

“We are aware of these issues. We are already planning to have uniform tendering for the purchase of good-quality implants,” the minister said.

“Since there is a lack of standardised specifications for the implants, local vendors get poor quality of implants from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and New Delhi and sell to government hospitals at inflated rates,” said a senior orthopaedic surgeon of a government hospital in Patiala, requesting anonymity.

Dr Akhil Sarin, state president, Punjab Civil Services Medical Association (PCMSA), said that there has to be standardisation of the specifications for the implant to be used. “The price ceiling (for the given specification) as per the government guidelines needs to be strictly adhered to. This will ensure a financially prudent way of ensuring the provision of quality implants that meet high regulatory standards for safety and efficacy, thereby ensuring good functional restoration and longevity for patient benefit,” he said.