Health System Purchasing Professionals' Approaches to Considering Equity in Procurement

Area of Science:

• Health equity research
• Healthcare supply chain management
• Medical device innovation

Background:

• Growing evidence highlights racial bias in medical devices like pulse oximeters and AI.
• This necessitates health systems to innovate and address bias in device and AI markets.
• Incorporating equity into purchasing decisions is a key strategy to combat health disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how healthcare purchasing professionals integrate equity concerns into their decision-making processes.
• To understand the current state of equity considerations in the procurement of medical devices and technology.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semistructured interviews with 30 healthcare purchasing professionals across the US.
• Interviews focused on purchasing processes for devices, including pulse oximeters, and the role of equity.
• Utilized an abductive approach to analyze how equity and disparity concerns are integrated.

Main Results:

• Purchasing professionals reported limited integration of equity considerations in current processes.
• Receptivity to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives often focused on supplier diversity, not equitable device performance.
• Professionals rely on clinical partners for equitable performance requirements and face limitations from large contracts.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare purchasing professionals show emerging interest in DEI, with some success in diverse supplier initiatives.
• Strong clinical partnerships are crucial for ensuring equitable device performance.
• Explicit frameworks are required to effectively integrate equitable performance into healthcare purchasing decisions.