Challenges in medicine procurement through GeM in a tertiary care hospital in northeast India

Background & objectives The procurement of medical items (drugs and consumables) through the Government e-marketplace (GeM) is a recent initiative. This study aimed to comprehensively assess the bottlenecks, procedural pitfalls, and delays impacting the supply chain in the procurement process of a tertiary care hospital in northeast India. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the procurement data obtained from the hospital's procurement cell over 12 months. The study primarily focused on the total demand for medicines and consumables through the e-portal and compared it with the actual quantity/quality received by healthcare facilities. Results The initial demand was placed for 1507 medicines and 1219 medical consumables. However, the healthcare facility received only 695 (46.1%) medicines and 945 (77.5%) consumables. Major bottlenecks identified were non-quotation of medicines, price negotiation rejections, and vendor failure to supply. Interpretation & conclusions This study identifies a few bottlenecks: non-quotation by vendors, price negotiation rejections and failure to supply medicines and consumables by the vendors in procurement through the GeM. Efforts like flexibility in matching previous purchase rates, International Organisation for Standardisation/World Health Organization (ISO/WHO) qualified vendor base at the GeM level and porting in reliable pharmaceutical companies must be directed towards optimising procurement processes and enhancing supply chain management to bridge the identified gaps and promote seamless healthcare delivery.