E-Procurement in Public Hospitals in Greece

Abstract

The recently new legal framework for public procurement in Greece adopts the mandatory usage of e-procurement systems for any open, negotiated or restricted procedure over 60,000 € (VAT excluded). The objective of the study is to investigate the degree of usage of e-procurement systems as well as the legal barriers and bureaucratic restrictions appeared in public administration. The paper analyzes the implementation of e-procurement systems in Greek public hospitals and describes also the primary impacts and problems observed in public entities/hospitals. The evidence show significant improvements on speed and accuracy of the follow-up of procurement procedure. On the other hand, the research proves that the majority of Greek public hospitals doesn’t conduct their procurement through National System of Electronic Public Contracts (ESHDHS), the system that has been designed for this exact purpose and consequently transparency is reducing while the new e-procurement tool is not utilized on the most satisfactory degree and the management of procurement procedures is not supported thoroughly. It is the first time in Greece that evidence for the adoption of e-procurement systems on a daily basis operation of Greek public hospitals are presented and analyzed so as hospitals to find a useful tool for their own financial management.