What is the difference between specialized and basic hospitals?

Many readers wonder whether the decentralization of medical facilities according to technical expertise level is different from the previous decentralization according to level?

What is the difference between technical expertise?

According to previous regulations, public hospitals are divided into 4 levels. Specifically, central level and equivalent (level 1); provincial level and equivalent (level 2); district, county, town level and equivalent (level 3) and commune, ward, town level and equivalent (level 4).

This division is based on administrative boundaries. For example: District general hospitals will be level 3; provincial general hospitals will be level 2 and central hospitals will be level 1.

However, the revised Law on Medical Examination and Treatment has come into effect with new regulations on the division of hospital professional levels. Accordingly, medical facilities will be classified according to technical professional levels. Including specialized level, basic level and initial level.

Specifically, the technical expertise ranking is based on four groups of capacity of medical examination and treatment facilities, including capacity to provide medical examination and treatment services and scope of professional activities; capacity to participate in medical practice training; capacity to participate in technical support for other medical examination and treatment facilities; and capacity for scientific research in medicine.

In an easy-to-understand way, currently the hospital's professional level does not depend entirely on administrative boundaries, but also on the hospital's ability to provide medical examination and treatment services, expertise, science, etc.

Thus, provincial general hospitals that are highly evaluated in the four competency groups can be classified as specialized.

Provincial general hospitals with low rankings will be classified as basic professional level. This depends entirely on the actual capacity, quality of medical examination and treatment, training, research... of the medical facility.

The specialized medical agency under the Provincial People's Committee (Department of Health) assigns technical expertise to hospitals within its management area and private hospitals that have been granted operating licenses by the Ministry of Health, except for hospitals under the Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Public Security .

After the results of hospital professional ranking are available, the Ministry of Health recommends that medical facilities must publicly announce the professional level at the reception desk and hospital website so that people can clearly know the information.

Social insurance participants can rely on the hospital's professional level to choose a medical examination to enjoy payment benefits within the scope of benefits. In particular, for patients with 62 diseases, the group of diseases is transferred directly to the specialized level without the need for a referral letter.

What does technical expertise mean?

According to Mr. Tran Van Thuan - Deputy Minister of Health, one of the biggest benefits of ranking based on capacity is to improve the quality of medical services. Medical facilities must strive to improve medical examination and treatment services and the scope of professional activities to meet the criteria of each level.

This means that patients will benefit from higher quality medical services.

"A hospital that wants to achieve the advanced level must demonstrate its ability to provide complex and advanced medical services. This requires not only good infrastructure but also a team of highly qualified medical staff who are always updated with the latest knowledge and skills in the medical field.

At that time, patients will have access to advanced treatment methods and better care services," said Mr. Thuan.

In addition, criteria for assessing capacity such as capacity to participate in medical practice training; capacity to participate in technical support for other medical examination and treatment facilities; and capacity for scientific research in medicine also encourage medical facilities to invest and develop.

"The ranking of technical expertise based on capacity will create a healthy competitive environment among medical examination and treatment facilities. It will motivate facilities to invest in developing infrastructure, improving professional qualifications and improving services, and will be a driving force for the development of the Vietnamese health sector," said the Deputy Minister of Health.