UK healthcare reforms invite higher costs for suppliers

LONDON, UK, 15 September 2011 – Proceur Ltd, the European healthcare procurement network, sees increasing risks of market fragmentation as driving up the cost of supplying the healthcare market.  The UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today expanded its investigation into the nature of competition in the domestic healthcare market to include Dental Services providers.

Suppliers to the European healthcare market are currently facing pressure from two different directions – pricing pressure as governments implement a raft of austerity measures, and increased sales and marketing costs as healthcare markets become more decentralised and fragmented.  Without adjusting to this ‘new normal’ and reducing market-access costs, such pressures will increasingly fall to the bottom line.

This adds to an existing OFT investigation into the private hospital market, which was launched in March this year.  Results of that study are expected by the end of 2011, but a preliminary statement given by the OFT in August cited concerns with:

• A lack of transparency in pricing and quality metrics between private healthcare providers;
• A lack of transparency in the relationship between senior doctors and their host private hospitals; and
• Many existing facility operators benefiting from ‘local monopolies’ as their hospitals are the only private provider within the region.

Proceur Ltd helps suppliers to the healthcare industry reduce costs by delivering customers directly to your doorstep.  To find out more, visit www.proceur.com.

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About Proceur Ltd

Proceur brings European healthcare buyers and suppliers closer together.  We help healthcare services organisations better manage their procurement expenditure by reducing complexity and cost, allowing savings to be reinvested in service expansion.  For suppliers, the European customer base remains highly fragmented – with over 50,000 healthcare locations across 27 countries.  Proceur rationalises market access costs through our proprietary buying network.  The company was founded in 2011 by Martin Whitbread, an expert in healthcare services with over a decade in the industry as an equity analyst at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.  For more information, visit www.proceur.com.

For further information please contact:

Proceur Ltd

Martin Whitbread, Chief Executive Officer      +44 20 72 22 22 90        This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.