Procurement has become a strategic driver in European healthcare transformation, linking innovation, sustainability and value-based outcomes. As demographic pressures, workforce shortages and environmental imperatives strain health systems, procurement professionals are emerging as key actors in enabling digital and organisational innovation. However, the role of procurement in the health and care workforce remains underdeveloped. A new framework developed from interviews across five European countries introduces a role-based model that strengthens innovation procurement capacity, aligning workforce skills with system-wide goals for resilience, digitalisation and sustainability.
Redefining Procurement for System Innovation
Across Europe, healthcare organisations are increasingly turning to innovation to sustain service delivery amid growing demand and limited resources. Procurement, once viewed as a transactional function, is evolving into a strategic mechanism capable of shaping markets, embedding digital technologies and advancing environmental goals. This shift requires professionals who can interpret health needs, engage suppliers and manage complex innovation processes across clinical and administrative boundaries.
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Innovation procurement differs markedly from routine purchasing as it involves navigating uncertainty, emerging technologies and regulatory challenges. The European Commission’s ProcurCompEU framework provides a baseline for competency development but lacks sector-specific guidance tailored to health innovation. The proposed role-based framework addresses this gap by identifying six emerging procurement roles—Strategic Business Partner, Digital/Automation Expert, Innovation Matchmaker, Sustainability Coordinator, Data Engineer and Innovation Coordinator—each contributing to healthcare transformation through distinct competencies and collaborative functions.
Six Roles Driving Innovation Procurement
The Strategic Business Partner aligns procurement with clinical and organisational goals, acting as a bridge between policy and operations. The Digital/Automation Expert introduces technologies such as e-procurement systems and data automation, enabling more agile and data-driven decision-making. The Innovation Matchmaker connects healthcare providers with suppliers to co-develop novel solutions while the Sustainability Coordinator ensures environmental and social criteria are embedded in purchasing decisions. The Data Engineer structures and analyses procurement data to support performance monitoring and the Innovation Coordinator integrates procurement into organisational innovation strategies.
These differentiated roles reflect a broader move from generalist competencies to distributed, team-based innovation capacities. Soft skills—communication, negotiation and stakeholder engagement—proved essential across all roles. Procurement professionals increasingly balance operational efficiency with strategic innovation, requiring both technical expertise and adaptive thinking. The framework extends ProcurCompEU by linking each role to competencies that underpin the sensing, seizing and transforming dimensions of Dynamic Capabilities theory, emphasising procurement’s role as a learning and change-oriented function within healthcare systems.
Institutional and Organisational Enablers
While competencies define professional capacity, institutional conditions determine their application. The research highlights that leadership support, flexible governance and cross-departmental collaboration are essential for innovation procurement to thrive. Decentralised systems with delegated authority, such as those in Denmark and the Netherlands, allow procurement teams to engage early with suppliers and clinicians. In contrast, centralised or compliance-driven systems like those in Germany or parts of Spain often constrain innovation efforts through rigid procedures and risk aversion.
Organisational reforms that integrate procurement within digital, clinical and sustainability functions can unlock its potential as a strategic enabler. Policies that support outcome-based tenders, functional specifications and supplier dialogue were cited as effective levers. Embedding procurement competencies into broader workforce planning and aligning them with institutional culture are crucial steps toward professionalising the function. The findings also underline the need for continuous training and mentoring to help professionals transition from transactional to innovation-oriented roles.
Policy and Workforce Implications
Professionalising healthcare procurement requires coordinated action from policymakers, training institutions and organisational leaders. Updating the ProcurCompEU framework with sector-specific modules in sustainability, digital health and value-based procurement would support more targeted capability-building. Role-based job classifications and tailored learning pathways could help institutions attract and retain talent with the skills to bridge technical, clinical and administrative domains.
Embedding innovation procurement within public health workforce planning aligns with the priorities of the WHO-ASPHER Competency Framework and the Essential Public Health Operations, which emphasise governance, system strengthening and sustainable innovation. The six-role model provides a foundation for training curricula, recruitment strategies and policy reforms designed to make procurement a central force in health system transformation. Developing ambidextrous acumen—the capacity to manage efficiency and innovation simultaneously—will be vital for procurement teams navigating complex digital and sustainability transitions.
Procurement is evolving from a compliance-focused activity into a strategic capability essential for innovation in healthcare. By defining six differentiated roles and linking them to dynamic, system-level competencies, the proposed framework repositions procurement professionals as enablers of resilience, digitalisation and sustainability. Realising this potential depends on aligning individual skills with supportive institutional structures that encourage experimentation, collaboration and long-term value creation. Strengthening procurement as an innovation capacity within the health and care workforce offers a practical roadmap for modernising European healthcare systems and advancing their transformation goals.
Source: Health Policy
Image Credit: iStock
