Institution’s own funds
Type of financing
Buyer's own funds
Beneficiary
Medical device manufacturer
Context of use
Facility
Objective
In hospitals, when a medical device (MD) is not financed directly through the patient's hospitalization, healthcare facilities can choose to finance them from their own funds.
The device is not directly reimbursed by the Health Insurance Fund, but rather is purchased by the facility, which sometimes can get financial aid for devices recognized as innovative.
Your service is being used by a facility, but not eligible for coverage
- If your digital solution is intended for healthcare facilities and does not fall under the definition of a medical device (it relates to logistics optimization, appointment scheduling, hospital purchasing, etc.), you can market it directly to the institution.
- If it falls within the definition of a digital MD, but is not used within the framework of the existing Groupes homogènes de séjours (GHS) or of the intra-GHS list, it remains possible to market it as long as it has obtained CE marking. Hospitals are free to purchase the solutions of their choice if the product is CE-marked.
How to collaborate, approach, and negotiate with a healthcare facility?
To answer these questions, and to help entrepreneurs and startups understand their customers, the Research & Innovation Fund of the French Hospital Federation (FHF) has designed the Hospi'UP guide.
1. Find the right healthcare facility
- The right healthcare facility is likely to be amenable to your solution and offer if: Your solution addresses its priorities, if the facility is recognized in the therapeutic area of your solution, if it issues regular communications on that subject, if it participates in regional or (inter)national work on the subject, etc
- The right institution for your solution must also have the right human, technical and financial resources to deploy your solution. Its size, activity, and importance within the regional healthcare coordination network (GHT) are all criteria worth studying.
2. Find the right contact
Meet with the facility’s "functional departments" affected by your solution: Medical IT, care, finance and management control, quality, etc.
Keep in mind that certain departments like Information Systems (if the solution is digital) or Administration are must-contact, especially if the price of the solution is so large as to require a public procurement process.
3. Collaborate and negotiate
- Beyond just the financial relationship, the facility must also be considered a partner in developing a solution: Having professional expertise, an understanding of practices, and a trial site are all valuable assets for solution development.
- Negotiation must be based on an understanding of the needs of each party, with a focus on the long-term, and requires a willingness to make certain concessions.
- Several types of collaborations are possible: Commercialization, co-development, cost effectiveness study, evaluation/validation, etc.
Description
Amount of funding
Digital MD prices are the direct result of commercial negotiations with healthcare facilities.
Conditions to be met
Being a medical device:
- CE-marked
- for a healthcare facility