Objective To systematically review the impact of the centralized volume-based procurement (CVBP) of medical consumables on patients' hospitalization expenses in China. Methods The PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, CNKI, CBM, and WangFang Data were electronically searched to collect studies on the impact of CVBP medical consumables on patients' hospitalization expenses from Jan 1, 2000 to May 13, 2025. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using Stata 17.0 software. Results The meta-analysis showed that the implementation of the CVBP policy for medical consumables significantly reduced the average patient hospitalization expense (SMD=?4.754, 95%CI ?7.434 to ?2.075, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis indicated that the average patient hospitalization expense decreased after CVBP of coronary stents (SMD=?0.721, 95%CI ?1.040 to ?0.402, P<0.001) and intraocular lenses (SMD=?0.660, 95%CI ?0.984 to ?0.337, P<0.001), with the largest reduction observed after the procurement of artificial joints (SMD=?10.344, 95%CI ?15.147 to ?5.540, P<0.001). Conclusion Evidence from evaluations of the CVBP from the patient's perspective in China is mainly concentrated in developed provinces and cities. Moderate-quality evidence suggests that the largest reduction in average patients' hospitalization expenses occurred after the CVBP of artificial joints, followed by coronary stents and intraocular lenses. It is recommended to further expand the scope of CVBP in the future in China.
The outline of the "Healthy China 2030" states that medical institutions should serve as the primary purchasing agents for medicines and medical consumables, and joints purchasing should be encouraged. Since its establishment, the National Healthcare Security Administration has conducted five batches of national centralized procurement of high-value medical consumables, forming a nationwide collaborative framework involving national, provincial (including inter-provincial alliances), and local municipalities (including local municipal alliances). This study explains the current development status of the centralized procurement of medical consumables in representative countries, and explores the role of research evidence, such as health technology assessment (HTA), in the centralized procurement of medical consumables in China. Looking ahead, various forms of research evidence, such as HTA, will contribute to the dynamic adjustment of the catalogue for the collection and procurement of medical consumables, and the construction of a comprehensive evaluation index system for the clinical use of medical consumables, as well as the integration of evidence-based and artificial intelligence technology for the whole life-cycle management of medical consumables, will inject new impetus into the management of collection and procurement and innovation.
