Doctors at Tam Duong district’s clinic in northern province of Lai Chau have been trained in complex techniques by those from central and provincial-level hospitals so that their patients don’t need to be transferred to higher level hospitals (Photo VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Some 6.6 million people have received bettermedical treatment as a result of a project which rotates doctors fromhigh-level to lower-level hospitals, implemented in Vietnam since 2008.
After completing a three-month training course on diagnosing osteo-arthritisand giving peripheral joint injections at the E General Hospital in Hanoi,Dr Pham Thi Lien from the northern province of Lai Chau is much more confident.
Lien is now adept at combining traditional and modern medicinal disciplines atTam Duong district clinic’s Department of Traditional Medicine.
“We are now able to help lots of patients get treatment for musculo-skeletaldisorders,” Lien said. “We no longer have to transfer them to higher-levelhospitals, and they give us lots of compliments.”
Lien went to the E General Hospital under a project known as Project 1816 thatstarted in 2008.
In an effort to motivate medical graduates to help out in rural areas and takethe pressure off urban hospitals, where patients flock for treatment, thesystem rotates doctors from higher-level to lower-level hospitals.
Launched by the Ministry of Health, it aims to improve health treatment atlower-level hospitals, reduce patient overload athigher-level hospitals; and transfer medical techniquesto lower-level hospitals through on-the-job training for medicalstaff.
In 10 years of operation, about 10,000 doctors have moved for threemonths or so from higher-level to lower-level hospitals, providing farbetter treatment for about 6.6 million patients.
As part of efforts to reduce patient overload at higher-level hospitals, amedical collaboration project known as “satellite hospitals” was launched in2013.
Considered a part of Project 1816, the project establishes and strengthensconnections between higher-level and lower-level hospitals through trainingactivities, technology transfer, improvement of facilities, and upgrading ofmedical equipment.
Twenty-two higher-level hospitals are participating in the project to support117 satellite hospitals.
Taking part in the project in 2014, the Binh Dinh Traditional Medicine Hospitalin the central province of Binh Dinh became a satellite hospital of theCentral Acupuncture Hospital in Hanoi. It received medical equipmentfrom the Central Acupuncture Hospital for their two units: spinal painmanagement and special care for people with paralysis.
The equipment has improved Binh Dinh Traditional MedicineHospital’s treatment quality and helped them attract morepatients, the onlinenewspaper baobinhdinh.com.vn reported.
The number of patients at the spinal pain management unit rose from 407 in 2014(before the equipment transfer) to 803 in 2016, according to Dr Le Phuoc Nin,the hospital’s director. The number of patients at the special care unit forpeople with paralysis rose from 418 in 2014 to 871 in 2016, he added.
“The average treatment duration has decreased from 22.2 days in 2015 to 21.2 inthe first half of 2017, reducing costs for patients,” he said.
The higher-level hospitals and their satellite hospitals are connectedthrough information technology (IT) systems. The use of telecommunication andIT to provide clinical health care from a distance (telemedicine) - isfrequently applied at higher-level hospitals to conduct training, conferences,and group consultation with their satellite hospitals.
Having focused on reducing patient overload at the departments of cardiology,orthopaedics, obstetrics, pediatrics, and oncology at higher-level hospitals inthe 2013-16 period, the "satellite hospitals" project will dothe same for the endocrine, hematology and blood transfusion departments atthese hospitals in the 2016-20 period.-VNA
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