Today, September 4, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee (VFF) of Hanoi organized a social response to the Draft Resolution of the City People's Council promulgating the list of family medicine examination and treatment services that have not been paid by the health insurance fund for family medicine examination and treatment facilities and the list of out-of-hospital emergency care in Hanoi.

Towards health care coverage

According to the representative of the Hanoi Department of Health, there will be 20 categories of family medicine examination and treatment; 22 categories of out-of-hospital emergency care in the city that have not been paid by the health insurance fund in the city. The resolution was issued to manage primary health care for people in the city, helping patients detect diseases early, be diagnosed and treated promptly when the disease is still in the early stages, bringing high treatment efficiency, reducing medical examination and treatment costs, and reducing complications for patients.

At the same time, aiming to implement health care coverage, all people are managed, cared for, guaranteed equality in rights and obligations, and enjoy health services. The Resolution also aims to contribute to implementing social security policies in line with the socio-economic development of the city in the new situation; ensuring that emergency and patient transport activities are carried out with the best and fastest professional quality, meeting the requirements of patients and people.

The Resolution is expected to be considered for submission to the City People's Council at the 18th Session, 16th term, 2021-2026 term. When the Resolution is issued by the City People's Council, it will create a legal basis for promulgating technical procedures and technical economic norms as a basis for promulgating prices for family medical examination and treatment services that have not been paid by the Health Insurance Fund and 22 out-of-hospital emergency categories in accordance with legal regulations and appropriate to the situation. At the same time, it will help service providers move towards full autonomy, correctly and fully calculating the components of service prices.

Pay more attention to family medical examination and treatment capacity

At the conference, delegates highly appreciated the preparation work of the Department of Health and agreed on the necessity of issuing the Resolution, but suggested changing the name of the Resolution to be concise and easy to understand. At the same time, opinions focused on discussing the content, scope, objects of impact as well as forecasting the social impact on these types of services when issued.

Some delegates said that the draft Resolution helps reduce hospital overload, is consistent with the Capital Law 2024, and supports the development of the family medicine model, but the drafting agency should assess the impact of the Resolution on social security in the capital, the operation of commune-level health stations, and review the family medicine model to spend the right value and objects according to the Resolution.

Some delegates were also interested in specific guidance on beneficiaries, pricing methods, etc. for easy application when the Resolution is implemented. In particular, it was proposed to pay more attention to the capacity of family medical examination and treatment; to state the basis for making lists; to assess the status of human resources, the current status of family medicine, and out-of-hospital emergency care, etc.

In addition, many delegates suggested adding psychological counseling services, home nutritional support services, home chronic disease screening services, traditional medicine, increasing medical emergency services, etc. to improve service quality.

Concluding the conference, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Hanoi Nguyen Sy Truong requested the Hanoi Department of Health to carefully study the comments of delegates and scientists here to review and edit the document to ensure compliance with regulations, sufficient ideas and content before submitting it to the People's Council for promulgation.

In particular, it is recommended that the drafting agency supplement and clearly state that "family medical examination and treatment facilities in the city have been registered in accordance with regulations" to ensure that there are no illegal facilities operating without a license. The Department of Health organizes a review of family medical facilities in the city that have been licensed to ensure the health and safety of the people when going to the hospital.

Regarding the list of medical examination and treatment services stipulated in the Resolution, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the City suggested that the Department of Health continue to study and seek opinions from other units (Oriental Medicine Association, Traditional Medicine Association, family medicine doctors...) to further improve it.

Regarding the list of out-of-hospital emergency services, Mr. Nguyen Sy Truong suggested that the Department of Health study the opinions of experts, in which long distances should not be included in the list, because emergency services need to be quick and timely to ensure the safety and life of patients.

The City's Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee requested the Department of Health to promptly complete the documents and respond in writing to the objections of the City's Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee according to regulations.