The impact of agreement on government procurement use on the competition in slovak healthcare sector

Abstract

The efficiency of the public finance system is conditioned also by the efficiency of public procurement processes. The Slovak healthcare system has been under pressure to increase long-term efficiency. With respect to achieve the efficiency in healthcare system, the efficient public procurement is necessary condition. It is important to examine the factors influencing the public procurement system in the health sector as well as the causal relationships that would provide a valuable platform for the evaluation mechanisms aimed at the effectiveness of the planned purchases. The healthcare sector is specific because it is difficult to consider the effectiveness of the medical equipment in public procurement as well as its long-term effects, the total cost of the treatment and the individual requirements of the patient. The aim of the study is to clarify, whether the use of GPA impact the occurrence of savings within the public procurement process and if application of GPA induces the competition among tenders, thus whether the use of GPA increase number of offers. We use data on public procurement in healthcare sector in Slovak republic in 2019. The focus of analysis is on the Agreement on Government Procurement use by Slovak public procurement bodies and its impact on competition and creation of savings in public procurement process. Our findings suggest that the use of Agreement on Government Procurement induce emergence of savings in public procurement and increases the level of competition. Analysis also indicates that there exists relatively tight correspondence between competition and emergence of savings within public procurement process. It holds that higher the number of offers is, the higher savings are. © 2021, Bucharest University of Economic Studies Publishing House. All rights reserved.