Municipal consortia for medicine procurement: impact on the stock-out and budget.

The study evaluated the impact of the consortia on the budget and shortage of medicines for the basic pharmaceutical assistance component in Indaial municipality, Southern Brazil. The number of items with a stock out for at least one day decreased by 12% from 2008 to 2007 and 48% from 2009 to 2007; total costs decreased by 33%, when comparing procurement by consortia (2009) to municipal procurement (2007), and by 18% when compared to the average values of the 2009 Health Prices Database from the Ministry of Health. The procurement of medicines by the consortia decreased stock outs and represented an economy of scale, allowing for the procurement of a greater quantity of products with the same budget.