Vietnam - Higher health fees, same quality, say patients

VietNamNet Bridge – Patients in many hospitals said they were not aware of the new higher fees until they paid them and that service quality still remained the same despite the hike.

Many hospitals nationwide have increased health fees based on the maximum price schedule set by the Ministries of Health and Finance in February, but many patients told Tuoi Tre they had not been informed of the higher fees in advance.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has requested that hospitals make their new fees known to the public before applying them.

“I already had VND3,000 (US$0.14) in hand to pay for examination, but a staff at the reception counter said the new fee was VND14,000, ” La Thi Xinh, a resident of O Mon District, told Tuoi Tre yesterday at the Can Tho General Hospital in Can Tho Province.

“Why did the hospital raise fees suddenly, not making it known in advance to patients,” she wondered.

As noticed by Tuoi Tre, there is a very small board displaying the new rate at the counter.

At Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, the new fees have yet to be publicized although they have been applied since July 16.

Nguyen Ngoc Hien, vice director of the hospital, explained to Tuoi Tre that preparations for printing the new fee list were underway and the list would be available next week.

At Hanoi-based K Hospital, which has been applying higher fees since July 20, Nguyen Van Khiem, a patient who has stayed there for two months, told Tuoi Tre that he did not know about the fee hike.

Quality not yet improved

Khiem also said he did not find any changes in service quality at K hospital after the hike.

Many other patients made similar complaints.

Dr. Bui Cong Toan, deputy director of the hospital, attributed this to the overloading of patients there.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Hien, deputy director of Bach Mai Hospital, said that the hospital has spent VND20 billion (US$960,000) on upgrading the examination ward, but the work could not be finished until next month.

He also said the hospital has spent VND30 billion on providing air-conditioners for departments, and buying more sickbeds, respirators, patient monitors, and other facilities.

However, due to patient overloading, it still takes 6 hours for a patient to be examined and receive the results on average, he said.

Nonetheless, the time was 2 hours less than before, he added.

According to the Vietnam Social Insurance, five provinces have applied new health fee rates at over 90 percent of the ceiling prices issued by the Ministries of Health and Finance.

They are Long An (90 percent), Ninh Thuan (98 percent), Dong Thap (93 percent), Cao Bang (93 percent), and Khanh Hoa (95 percent).

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre