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20 December 2010

Request for Information – Insulin Pumps and consumables

Background In July the Minister of Health announced PHARMAC’s role was to be extended to include consideration of medical devices over time, and that insulin pumps were to be the first project PHARMAC would examine. Following the Minister’s announcement, PHARMAC has considered how it might go about looking at the issue of funding insulin pumps at a national level. This has included PHARMAC staff approached several clinicians and nurse specialists with experience in initiating and managing patients with insulin pumps to seek advice on the issues relating to insulin pumps in New Zealand to get a preliminary idea of current practice. Request for information As this is a new area of activity for PHARMAC, we are seeking information from clinicians, patient groups, suppliers, and any other interested parties. We have attached specific questions to this letter, but broadly they cover areas such as:  what is current practice?;  what funding is available currently?  what is available that is not funded?, and

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in your view, who would benefit the most from funding of insulin pumps and in what way?

While we have asked specific questions, if you have information you think is important that is not covered by the questions, we are happy to receive this as well. We would appreciate you providing your response by 11 February 2011. We appreciate that this response time includes the Christmas and New Year period, and we have tried to take this into account sufficiently with the period of time provided. If you would like to contribute to this process, but consider that this timeline is not achievable for you please contact us. Process going forward At this stage, PHARMAC plans to follow a similar process for the assessment of insulin pumps and their consumables as it does for pharmaceuticals. Following review of the information collected as a result of this request and from our own searches, we intend to seek the advice of PTAC and its Diabetes Subcommittee on the appropriate place in therapy, and relative funding priority. We would expect these meetings to take place between March and May 2011.

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Should insulin pumps compare well with other possible investments, we would look at our commercial options, which include request for proposal processes, and negotiating for supply with suppliers. For responses, or if you have any queries, please email them to me at greg.williams@pharmac.govt.nz or to Andrew Davies, Procurement Initiatives Manager at andrew.davies@pharmac.govt.nz. Yours sincerely

Greg Williams Therapeutic Group Manager

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Information Requested Suppliers 1. 2. 3. What is you current insulin pump product range, including consumables? What sort of warranty arrangements do you provide with your pumps? What is your annual volume for these products? We would appreciate it if you would also give an indication of pricing. If you are providing the information in confidence, please indicate in your response. Do you currently hold any contracts for supply of insulin pumps and/or consumables to DHBs, if so:    what line items does the contract(s) cover? what is the duration of the contract(s) and when will it expire? Are there any special terms in the contract(s) that you consider we should be aware of?

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Are there any additional products or line items that you currently have in development, or are nearing market rollout that you consider will supersede your current range? What level of technical support do you provide for consumers using your insulin pump currently?

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Please provide any additional information you consider may be of assistance to PHARMAC in considering the funding of insulin pumps and associated consumables.

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DHBs 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What insulin pump products are used by your DHB (type and brand)? Why was this range chosen? Do you also provide patients with (or funding for) consumables associated with insulin pumps? If you fund insulin pumps currently, what criteria do you use to determine which patients receive funded devices? What is the quantity of insulin pumps used by your DHB each year? What quantity of consumables are funded by your DHB each year? What is the current price of paid by your DHB for insulin pumps and consumables (or if preferred what is the total annual cost of these items – please indicate if this is confidential information)? Who is the key contact(s) at your DHB that PHARMAC should contact with any further communication regarding insulin pumps and consumables? Does your DHB have contracts with suppliers for these products? If so, which suppliers and what products does the contract cover? Please supply any additional information that you think may be helpful to PHARMAC when considering the funding of insulin pumps and associated consumables.

7. 8. 9.

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Clinicians and patient groups 1. 2. 3. 4. What insulin pump products are used by your DHB (type and brand)? Do you have a preference for a particular pump due to its features? Please provide an explanation on the feature(s), and their clinical or practical benefits. What (if any) criteria do you use to determine which patients should be offered an insulin pump as a treatment option? In your view, what are the key benefits of an insulin pump?

Please supply any additional information that you think may be helpful to PHARMAC when considering the funding of insulin pumps and associated consumables. We plan to do our own literature searching, however if there is a key piece of evidence you think we should be aware of, please let us know.

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