People waiting for check-up at Trung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - More public-private partnerships (PPPs) are needed in the privatehealth care sector as public hospitals and clinics cannot meet the demand acrossthe country, experts have said.
More than 170 hospitals and 30,000 health clinics and other healthestablishments are privately run, with nearly 15 percent of the country’s totalhospital beds, a Ministry of Health report released last year said.
The proportion of patients visiting private health facilities was only 6-7 percent.
Other countries in Asia have a higher ratio of private hospital beds, withIndonesia having 37 percent of its beds in private facilities and Thailand 24percent, Professor Pham Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Social MedicalAssociation, said on the association’s website.
Dr Vo Xuan Son, director of EXSON International Clinic in HCM City, said thatprivate health facilities had not developed well because the Government had notissued many preferential policies or benefits for them.
Son said some private hospitals had invested a great deal in their facilities,but this had contributed to higher hospital fees. As a result, some of themhave closed.
An Khang International General Hospital had to close because its turnover couldnot cover expenditures for medicine, human resources and other fees related tooperations.
To attract patients, many private health facilities have signed contracts toadmit patients with health insurance. In these cases, insured patients visitedprivate health facilities and paid lower fees.
By 2020, more than 90 percent of its population is expected to have healthinsurance.
However, Son said that it was difficult to sign contracts with the SocialInsurance Agency.
The regulation on allowing doctors of public hospitals to work at privatehealth facilities after official working hours has not led to favourableconditions for private facilities, he added.
In many other countries, a doctor can work at two or more hospitals duringofficial working hours, Son said.
Truong Vinh Long, general director at Hoa Lam International Hospital Co.Ltd,said: “It is a waste of human resources in the health sector.”
“Investment in the health sector has higher risks than in other sectors. Forinstance, a fault in production can be acceptable except the health sector. Buta high price has to be paid in the health sector for mistakes,” Long said.
Investors must look at the long term and “reduce inessential expenditures tomaintain operation in the first few years,” he said.
Long said that the PPPs were the key to develop private health facilities asthey typically have modern facilities and professional governance.
Public health facilities have advantages such as a brand name, doctors withhigh qualifications, and a large number of patients, he added.
Private and public health facilities can work together and take advantage oftheir respective strengths, he said.
The Government has issued policies and decrees for PPPs, but the regulationsneed to be more specific in how to carry out the PPPs, he added.
Private health facilities should develop in fields where public hospitals havenot specialised, he said.
At a meeting held early this year reviewing the health sector, Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc urged speedier development of the private sector, particularlybecause of limited state funds.-VNA
More than 170 hospitals and 30,000 health clinics and other healthestablishments are privately run, with nearly 15 percent of the country’s totalhospital beds, a Ministry of Health report released last year said.
The proportion of patients visiting private health facilities was only 6-7 percent.
Other countries in Asia have a higher ratio of private hospital beds, withIndonesia having 37 percent of its beds in private facilities and Thailand 24percent, Professor Pham Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Social MedicalAssociation, said on the association’s website.
Dr Vo Xuan Son, director of EXSON International Clinic in HCM City, said thatprivate health facilities had not developed well because the Government had notissued many preferential policies or benefits for them.
Son said some private hospitals had invested a great deal in their facilities,but this had contributed to higher hospital fees. As a result, some of themhave closed.
An Khang International General Hospital had to close because its turnover couldnot cover expenditures for medicine, human resources and other fees related tooperations.
To attract patients, many private health facilities have signed contracts toadmit patients with health insurance. In these cases, insured patients visitedprivate health facilities and paid lower fees.
By 2020, more than 90 percent of its population is expected to have healthinsurance.
However, Son said that it was difficult to sign contracts with the SocialInsurance Agency.
The regulation on allowing doctors of public hospitals to work at privatehealth facilities after official working hours has not led to favourableconditions for private facilities, he added.
In many other countries, a doctor can work at two or more hospitals duringofficial working hours, Son said.
Truong Vinh Long, general director at Hoa Lam International Hospital Co.Ltd,said: “It is a waste of human resources in the health sector.”
“Investment in the health sector has higher risks than in other sectors. Forinstance, a fault in production can be acceptable except the health sector. Buta high price has to be paid in the health sector for mistakes,” Long said.
Investors must look at the long term and “reduce inessential expenditures tomaintain operation in the first few years,” he said.
Long said that the PPPs were the key to develop private health facilities asthey typically have modern facilities and professional governance.
Public health facilities have advantages such as a brand name, doctors withhigh qualifications, and a large number of patients, he added.
Private and public health facilities can work together and take advantage oftheir respective strengths, he said.
The Government has issued policies and decrees for PPPs, but the regulationsneed to be more specific in how to carry out the PPPs, he added.
Private health facilities should develop in fields where public hospitals havenot specialised, he said.
At a meeting held early this year reviewing the health sector, Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc urged speedier development of the private sector, particularlybecause of limited state funds.-VNA
VNA
