Many difficulties and problems in medical examination, treatment and health insurance payment need to be resolved.

(DN) - On July 31, the Ministry of Health held a national online conference with the Departments of Health, hospitals nationwide and Vietnam Social Security to remove difficulties and obstacles in medical examination and treatment under health insurance (HI).

Deputy Director of Dong Nai General Hospital Le Thi Phuong Tram spoke at the conference. Photo: Thanh Tam

At the meeting, many units reported on the barriers in assigning tasks to doctors to read diagnostic imaging results. Due to the shortage of specialized doctors in diagnostic imaging, many medical facilities currently have to arrange for short-term trained internal medicine doctors to perform this task.

However, according to current regulations, only doctors with specialized practice certificates are allowed to make diagnostic imaging conclusions, causing difficulties for facilities, especially in remote areas.

Another issue raised is the unclear regulation on the legal value of continuing medical education (CME) certification in assigning technical tasks. Hospitals recommend that there should be specific guidelines distinguishing between continuing education, knowledge updating and specialized training to ensure the legalization of task assignment.

Nurses perform hemodialysis at Thong Nhat General Hospital, Dong Nai. Photo: Hanh Dung

Regarding the scope of practice of nurses, many facilities are upset when they are denied health insurance payment for some techniques that nurses perform (including hemodialysis), even though they have been prescribed by doctors because they do not meet the university degree requirements according to the official document. This affects the operation and service quality at facilities with uneven nursing staff.

Regarding the function of general practitioners at primary health care facilities, the units proposed to allow flexibility in examination and prescription within the scope of common diseases, instead of being limited by regulations on specialized examination, to suit the characteristics of human resources at the front line.

The representative of the Ministry of Health acknowledged all the recommendations of the units and committed to review, adjust, and supplement during the process of amending Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment.

The Ministry of Health will have an official response document to the units, providing guidance on consistent and appropriate application in accordance with current regulations, and at the same time creating a basis for perfecting legal policies on health insurance in the coming time.

Hanh Dung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/y-te/202507/nhieu-kho-khan-vuong-mac-trong-kham-chua-benh-thanh-toan-bao-hiem-y-te-can-duoc-thao-go-1f81420/