Hearing session in the Budget and Planning Commission, chaired by Fabiano Amatito take stock of the state of the art of the measures to contain spending on medical devices and the work for the construction of new hospitals and specialist health centres.
Containment of spending on medical devices
In relation to the trend of spending on medical devices, the director of the Medicines, Medical Devices and Supplementary Assistance Section, Paolo Stella, was heard at the hearing and specified in the introduction that all regions have the problem of respecting the spending ceiling for medical devices. medical devices. Furthermore, in reporting on the data from Puglia, he highlighted the actions undertaken by the Region to contain this expenditure by referring to the acts adopted by the Council and the circulars issued by the Health Department, starting from 2015 up to the resolution of 12/27/2022 of approval of the strategic multi-year program of the Aggregator of the Puglia Region InnovaPuglia for the years 2022-2023-2024 and related note with the indications for the re-calling of the centralized regional procurement procedure for the supply of orthopedic prostheses and specialized traumatology devices, accessory material and related services.
The manager listed the main lines of intervention adopted by the Regional Council with resolution 512/2023, and in particular the provision which reiterated that the public companies of the SSR must take action in the event of unavailability of active agreements by the Aggregator or of Consip to carry out company bridging tender procedures in all cases in which significant deviations are detected compared to the national weighted average price as detected by the ministerial information system and to the urgent renegotiation of purchase prices with the supplier companies pending the completion of the company or regional tender procedure. Another significant intervention concerns the assignment to public companies of the SSR of spending ceilings for the purchase of medical devices, aimed at respecting the spending ceiling of 4.4% on the regional health fund as provided for by Legislative Decree 78 of 2015.
In 2023, a quarterly monitoring of the trend of medical device spending compared to the expected spending ceilings was conducted on the basis of data extracted from the management section of the Edotto regional information system, which was transmitted periodically.
From the verification of the spending ceilings for medical devices relating to 2023, according to the Open Data data of the MEF, Puglia recorded an excess of 6.45% of the regional health fund with a deviation of 173,105,845 euros compared to the ceiling of 4 .4% equal to 371,277,354 euros. These same data remodulated on the National Health Fund show Puglia a deviation of 46.62%, considering that the expenditure on medical devices on the basis of the data collected by the income statement model (EC) is 544,383,199 euros compared to the annual ceiling of 371,277,354 euros.
From 2019 to 2023, the gap in regional spending compared to the national average went from +0.9% to +0.3%, reducing by two thirds. Furthermore, in 2023 at a national level there was an average increase trend of +3%, while the figure for the Puglia Region was equal to +1% and therefore lower than the national average.
To the question posed by President Amati regarding the timing of the tender entrusted to the Aggregator, the manager replied that the point of evaluation by the technical commission for the evaluation of the offer has been reached, even if in the meantime other aggregator subjects have made the aggregate tender for the purchase of particular devices.
Monobloc Hospitals of Foggia
In relation to the construction of the monoblock of the Ospedali Riuniti di Foggia, the preparation phase of the documents for calling the tender procedure is underway. By the end of June or at the latest early July, the tender procedure can be called, the publication of which is expected by the end of July, the date from which more than sixty days will pass for the opening of the economic offers. Update set for the end of September.
Maglie-Melpignano Hospital
To verify the status of the project for the construction of the new Maglie Melpignano hospital, the general director of the ASL LE Stefano Rossi, who was called to the hearing, did not appear but sent a letter in which he communicated that the ASL is waiting to know the decisions of the Environmental Technical Committee on the deficient project for the solution of some interferences. At this point the Commission will call the manager of the Environmental Technical Committee to a hearing next Monday to understand what the current status is.
Center for treatment and research on eating disorders in Lecce
With reference to the overall topic of the fight against eating disorders, the general director of the Lecce Local Health Authority was called to the hearing to gain knowledge of the ongoing activity which was a knowledge activity relating to three points: that of the therapeutic-rehabilitative residence extra-hospital, that of hospital beds and that of day-hospital for eating disorders. The general director sent a report which refers only to the therapeutic rehabilitative residence in which he communicates that it has been published via the EmPULIA platform and the negotiated telematic procedure has been started for the works for the construction of the center for eating disorders with the intensive clinic. Therefore, to understand what stage the negotiated procedure is at, InnovaPuglia was called for which the manager Emilia Monaco intervened and specified that InnovaPuglia is not involved in the tender procedure because the ASL LE took action autonomously, but by virtue of the need to verify the elements entered into the IT platform, the manager herself has undertaken the commitment to provide information in this regard. The point has been updated until next Monday.
Regional Center for Neuromuscular Diseases
In the absence of the medical director of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine of the AOUC Polyclinic of Bari, the hearing on the supplementary report to the project for the creation of the Regional Center for Neuromuscular Diseases could not be held. This point has also been updated until next Monday.
