Impact of Government-e-Marketplace (GeM) on Procurement compared to Conventional Methods in a Public Hospital in India

Abstract

Background: Timely procurement of goods and services is essential for effective provision of services especially in health sector. Inordinate long Lead Time (LT) results in poor availability of material and dissatisfaction to internal and external customers. Government of India introduced Government-e-Marketplace (GeM) to overcome some of the issues commonly seen with conventional methods of public procurement like tenders, quotations, rate contracts, spot purchase. We decided to study the impact of GeM on procurement in a public sector hospital and simultaneously assess the reasons for delays in procurement.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study in a procurement division of a tertiary care hospital over a period of one calendar year.  

Results: The purchase division processed 535 cases/files during the study period through GeM as well as conventional methods. Internal and External Lead time in cases processed through GeM was significantly lower as compared to conventional methods. Some of the products received after doing direct purchase from GeM platform were rejected on account of non-compliance with the specifications.

Conclusion: GeM is an evolving platform and has certain advantages in terms of Lead time. Some products received after purchase through GeM were rejected due to non-conformance to the specifications.  Despite higher lead time, the conventional methods are still relevant and a judicious mix of both the purchase platforms may be the future to utilize the respective strengths of the two platforms for provisioning of services in the health care institutes.

Keywords: Procurement, Government e-Marketplace, Lead Time, Internal Lead Time, External Lead Time