Current trends in healthcare expenditures suggest an increase at alarmingly high rates. In Europe, the majority of the European Union (EU) Member States recorded a higher healthcare expenditure in 2016 compared with 2011. This trend was most pronounced in Estonia, where a 45.3% higher expenditure in 2016 was recorded, compared with 2011. 1 Considering the United States' of America (USA) total health care spending increased from an estimated $1.4 trillion [13.3% of gross domestic product (GDP)] in 1996 to an estimated $3.1 trillion (17.9% of GDP) in 2016. 2 The pharmaceutical expenditure accounts roughly for one-quarter of all healthcare expenditure, and is a significant driver of rising healthcare cost. 3 In Croatia average increase in expenditure for medicines from 2015 to 2019 was 9.8% annually. Even more worrisome is the increase of 15.5% in 2019 compared with 2018. 4 To optimise investment in medicines, hospitals design a hospital medicines policy and use tendering and negotiation processes.The European Parliament approved the new Directive on public procurement in 2014, to provide equal access with fair competition for public contracts within the EU market. 5 Currently, the lowest price procurement strategy, with generic prescribing included, is the most commonly used method by governments and hospitals in optimising investments in medicines. 6