The Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS) in Dubai said it realised major cost and efficiency benefits by switching from conventional to online procurement methods for its medical equipment and consumables.
"It is the duty of DOHMS to source medical materials to ensure that each and every facility in the Emirate, including four hospitals, six health centres and more than 20 clinics, has the required stocks," said Mohammad Juma, Director of the DOHMS Purchasing and Contracts Department.
"To guarantee a first-class health service requires that procurement remains a major element of our organisation a single long-term, three-year contract with a pharmaceutical company can be valued at Dh10 million, and so to make certain that our contracts are competitive, we turned to Tejari, the Dubai-based online marketplace."
The first government organisation to join Tejari's online marketplace almost five years ago, DOHMS has achieved significant returns on its decision to purchase online.
"Prior to Tejari, we conducted 100 per cent of our external procurement from suppliers offline, but aided in part by Dubai's e-government initiative and by the increased integration provided by Oracle Financials software, we took the decision to use Tejari's online marketplace and consolidate procurement in order to obtain greater purchasing power," added Juma.
Not only has DOHMS achieved significant savings on the price lists of medical consumables from international suppliers, but it has also increased efficiency 40 per cent by shortcutting its procurement process.
Gulf News
