The BC Ministry of Health Services expects to save more than $150 million with a new health purchasing arrangement with its Alberta counterpart.
Under the agreement, the BC Health Authority Shared Services Organization and Alberta Health Services will jointly award supply contracts through HealthPRO, a group purchasing organization with member health authorities across the country.
HealthPRO will establish bulk buys on a wide range of health-care supplies.
The agreement will consolidate purchases for the two provincial health-care systems that serve approximately eight million residents. The combined purchase volume is expected to be between $750 million and $1 billion, depending on which products each province wishes to contract through HealthPRO.
B.C. recently signed two contracts for cardiac supplies and home oxygen services that will save an estimated $57.5 million over the next five years. That figure represents 38% of the more than $150 million in savings the shared services organization first identified in December 2008.