Thirteen jobs will be lost as the country's district health boards launch a national programme to combine their purchasing power.
The scheme, intended to get DHBs to work together when buying and distributing medical resources, is expected to save half a billion dollars in the next ten years.
Health Benefits Ltd chief executive Nigel Wilkinson says the savings will be put back into frontline services.
He says the $1.3 billion spent on goods and services every year has traditionally been used in a variety of ways across the 20 boards.
Mr Wilkinson says by working together the boards can reduce waste, for example by redistributing perishable products to hospitals that need them.
He says the programme has already had good results in Scotland and parts of Australia and Canada.
