Oriola’s Hospital Team provides full end-to-end service

Pharmaceutical procurement in hospitals will be put out to tender this spring. Oriola’s Hospital Team will serve its pharmaceutical company customers throughout the tendering process.

A majority of pharmaceutical procurements for the hospital districts in Finland are placed under competitive tender every two years. Such large tendering processes mainly apply to the basic pharmaceutical supply for hospitals and hospital pharmacies, and smaller special pharmaceutical categories may be put out to tender more often.

The tendering processes are quite frequent, and a large tendering round will take place again this spring. Oriola’s Hospital Team is well positioned to offer support and extensive expertise to its pharmaceutical company customers throughout the process.

“We support the success of our customers within the hospital pharmaceuticals market,” says Riikka Näätsaari, Oriola’s Marketing Manager and head of the Hospital Team.

Tenders can be large or small

It is up to the pharmaceutical companies to decide what type of product range they wish to offer to hospitals. Oriola’s Hospital Team keeps the companies informed of any upcoming calls for tender, helps with the coordination of the tendering process and ensures that nothing has been omitted.

“In addition to hospitals, private chains of medical centres also put out their procurements for competition. New medicinal products come on the market every day, so a lot of competition takes place outside the large tendering rounds,” according to Leena Rekola and Jussi Kinnunen, Hospital Tender Co-ordinators.

Among the new e-Tendering systems, the tendering portal Kilpo will be used for the first time this year. Oriola has been involved in the development of Kilpo together with hospital pharmacies and the pharmaceutical industry.

Development based on listening

The acquisition of Farenta, a pharmaceutical services company, was completed last autumn, extending Oriola’s service portfolio. Farenta’s expertise is a great asset when supporting customers in the public tendering processes.

The tendering documents are in Finnish, so they need to be translated into English for any foreign providers. The Hospital Team is also able to offer these translation services.

The Hospital Team’s support is also vital if the company winning a contract has to find a replacement for a product under special permit because of, for example, supply difficulties. In these situations, the expertise of Tiina Liipo, Product Manager, and Terhi Heliö, Special Licensed Medicine Coordinator, is essential.

The work does not end with the closing of the competition. The Hospital Team maintains and updates the necessary data regarding, for example, price adjustments. In addition, contract holders have a duty to report to hospitals on, for example, the security of supply.

“We listen to the needs of both hospital pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. We make a specific effort to meet with our customers in person and to continually develop our services,” says Näätsaari.

Seamless cooperation

One of Oriola’s pharmaceutical company customers is Novo Nordisk Farma Oy, whose Business Support Director, Kalle Anttila, is pleased with the cooperation, which has worked well for many years.

“When it comes to tendering for pharmaceuticals, we stay in close contact with Oriola throughout the process. If necessary, we can always turn to our contact person and Oriola takes care of preparing a tender for us. This relieves us from worrying about completing and submitting the tender on time.”

The calls for tender are becoming more complicated every year, and the number of different certificates and documents required from the providers is increasing. To be able to rely on an expert specialising in the technicalities and documentation makes the process much easier.

“Oriola’s team answers our questions promptly and, when necessary, our contact person at Oriola can request further information from the hospital pharmacy on behalf of all their customers in one go. With Oriola taking care of the practical side of tendering, we can concentrate on our core task, which is to create added value for patients and our customers,” Anttila says.