European Specifications for Value-based Pre-Commercial Procurement of Innovative ICT for Empowerment and Self-management of Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

Current demographic changes require a paradigm shift in the delivery of health and social services. Wide-scale implementation of validated ICT support to clinicians and patients is essential to ensure the quality of services to future generations of citizens. Healthcare providers from four European regions – Turkey, Portugal, Campania and Murcia– have joined forces to procure an innovative ICT solution for patient empowerment and self-management for patients with diabetes mellitus. The procurement is in the form of a joint pre-commercial procurement (PCP) of Research & Development, with participation by EU industry in competitive phases of development. The PCP is part of the EU-funded project ProEmpower, which is currently in the prototype testing phase. The challenge faced by the procurers was to jointly define specifications for the envisioned solution that reflect the needs of all four regions. After an intensive year of consultations with procurers’ experts – clinicians, IT staff, procurement specialists – ProEmpower launched a call for tender with the defined specifications, which reflect the unmet needs across the procuring regions with regards to improving management of diabetes mellitus supported by ICT. This paper presents the ProEmpower specifications, which can be easily adapted to the local conditions of any procuring region in Europe and beyond. The specifications thus represent a valuable source for any new development of ICT-supported diabetes management.