Managing Prices for Hospital Pharmaceuticals: A Successful Strategy for New Zealand?

The first year of pooled procurement under the National Hospital Pharmaceutical Strategy (2002-2003) has resulted in moderate savings. For all 29 major public hospitals, savings of around NZ$5.2 million ($2.9 million-$8.7 million) or 3.7% were projected for 2003 to 2004. Longer-term effects, however, on patient outcomes and availability of pharmaceuticals, as well as on pharmaceutical expenditure, have yet to be evaluated.