Scores every product a hospital buys
Each product is assessed against the device, price and procurement records below, so the options can be compared on evidence before the specification is written.
Hospital procurement
Fix cost and carbon where they are decided: before the tender.
VERA Health is software for hospital procurement. It scores the sustainability of every product a hospital buys, and helps coordinate the change once a better option is chosen.
The problem
Sustainability is fixed at procurement, before anyone can measure it.
Nobody records how many sterilisation cycles a surgical instrument really goes through. So its lifetime, its cost per use and its carbon are guesses.
Meanwhile the decisions that fix cost and carbon are made before the public procurement process starts. By the time a tender is published, what the hospital will buy, and its impact, is largely settled.
What we are working towards
Data and governance over what a hospital buys.
Hospitals should be able to see the sustainability impact of what they buy, at the moment the choice is still open, and follow it through the life of the product. That means wasting less and, very likely, saving more.
How it works
Sustainability engine
Operational engine
Two engines, one decision.
Coordinates the change
Once a better option is chosen, it helps the people involved move together: the requests, answers and decisions that turn a choice into what the hospital actually buys.
- Before the tender. We work at the stage where needs are defined and options compared, when the decisions that fix cost and carbon are made.
- Compare on evidence. Products, alternatives and prices are scored side by side.
- Carry it through. The chosen option is coordinated with the people who need to agree to it.
What it runs on
The data underneath.
- 12 milliondevice records across the EU, the US FDA and China, with their import and sterilisation rules
- Unit pricesand price ranges across providers
- Hundredsof alternative references that could go into a bid
- Millionsof public procurement records
The public procurement records include 4 million Spanish invoice lines, 2 million Catalan awards and 216,000 Italian contracts.
Next step
Reuse and lifetime of surgical instruments.
We are bringing in the reuse and lifetime of surgical instruments that go through sterilisation. The aim: hospitals get data and governance over the sustainability impact of what they buy, waste less, and probably save more.
Working group
Who we are working with.
Names and logos are shown with the agreement of the consortium members. More on the working group
Regions in focus
- Catalonia
- Piedmont, Italy
- Wales
- Scotland
- Denmark
- Poland
- Greece
- Galicia
Talk to us
If you buy for a hospital, work on sustainable procurement, or supply instruments that go through sterilisation, we would like to hear how decisions are made where you are. Twenty minutes is enough to start.