CPV 851 – Health Services

What does CPV 851 cover?

CPV group 851 covers health services in the strict sense — that is services directly concerned with medical care, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients. These include inpatient hospital services, outpatient specialist medical services, diagnostics and laboratory services, physiotherapy, psychotherapeutic care, emergency medicine and public health services. Occupational health services, preventive examinations and vaccination programmes are also tendered under CPV 851.

Public contracting authorities use this code to procure external medical services: municipalities commission occupational physicians and occupational health specialists for their administrations; social welfare bodies award medical expert reports; public health offices procure vaccination and preventive health services. State hospitals tender specialist medical services they cannot provide themselves. Digital health solutions — from AI-assisted diagnostics to electronic patient records — are increasingly being tendered.

The public health service (ÖGD) gained significantly in prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic: public health offices carried out mass procurement for testing infrastructure, vaccination centres, medical personnel and digital notification platforms. The further development of digital infrastructure in the public health service remains a significant procurement area. Further information on the CPV system is available from the European Commission (SIMAP) and from Regulation (EC) No 213/2008.

Typical Services in CPV 851

Examples of Tenders with CPV 851

• Occupational health service for a municipal administration: A district-free city with 3,500 employees procures occupational health services for four years — with occupational medical preventive examinations, vaccination offers, workplace assessments, first-aid training and telephone consultations.
• Medical expert reports for a social welfare office: A district authority procures medical and psychiatric expert reports to assess capacity for work and care dependency for up to 600 cases per year — with certified experts and a digital submission system.
• AI-assisted diagnostic software for a municipal hospital: A municipal hospital authority procures AI-assisted image analysis software for radiological diagnostics — CE-certified as a class IIa medical device, with RIS integration and validation evidence.

Current tenders with CPV 851 are published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) and on national procurement platforms.

Who is CPV 851 relevant for?

Public Contracting Authorities

Municipalities, public health offices, social welfare bodies, public hospitals and state bodies such as the armed forces are the principal contracting authorities for medical services. Health insurance funds and statutory health associations are also considered public contracting authorities in a broader sense when they procure external services.

Companies and Bidders

Medical practices, Medical Care Centres (MVZ), hospitals, laboratory companies, physiotherapy practices and health IT companies are the typical bidders. Medical licence, specialist medical recognition, authorisation under SGB V and sector-specific quality certifications (such as ISO 15189 for laboratories) are standard eligibility requirements. Information on eligibility requirements and procurement procedures is available from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

How does Bond help with CPV 851?

Tender Match – Automatically Find Tenders (CPV 851)

With tender.match, health service providers and medical technology companies automatically receive all relevant tenders with CPV 851 directly in their dashboard. BOND indexes tenders from over 1,000 procurement portals in the EU – from TED to national platforms and regional contracting authorities. Instead of manually searching dozens of portals every day, matching health tenders are filtered and delivered by industry, competency, region, and company profile. An automated gap analysis immediately shows where the company meets the requirements and where gaps exist. This ensures companies never miss a deadline and can focus on preparing their bids.

Company Match – Find the Right Partners and Suppliers (CPV 851)

For companies looking for suppliers, subcontractors, or consortium partners for health projects, company.match provides direct access to qualified firms from an EU-wide database of over 28 million companies. Especially for larger healthcare provision contracts that a single organisation cannot handle alone, company.match automatically identifies suitable partners for bidding consortia and partial services – increasing the chances of winning the contract.

Frequently Asked Questions about CPV 851

Are medical services treated as social services in procurement law?

Yes. Health services fall under the social and other special services category pursuant to Annex XIV of EU Directive 2014/24/EU, transposed in §130 GWB. This means that above the threshold of €750,000, a transparent procurement procedure is required, which may be designed in a more flexible manner than standard procedures.

What must be considered when procuring occupational health services?

Occupational health services under the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) are subject to procurement requirements when the contract value exceeds the relevant threshold. Bidders must demonstrate that they hold a specialist qualification in occupational medicine. The UVgO applies below, and the VgV applies above the EU threshold.

Where can I find current tenders with CPV 851?

Tenders are published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) for EU-wide procedures for national tenders. Bond automatically aggregates all relevant tenders from over 1,000 portals, filtered by company profile.