Patients waiting for examination at Gia Dinh People's Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: THUY DUONG
On July 10, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said it had provided guidance for synchronous implementation at medical facilities immediately after Circular No. 26/2025/TT-BYT on prescribing drugs in outpatient treatment was issued.
Specifically, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health provides instructions on fully updating new prescription forms according to Circular 26/2025/TT-BYT, including regular prescriptions, prescriptions for addictive drugs, psychotropic drugs, and procedures for receiving unused drugs.
Organize the development and completion of the process of dispensing long-term outpatient medication, paying special attention to the prescription of up to 90 days, which must be appropriate to the patient's condition, have strict management records, and ensure compliance with current health insurance payment regulations.
Strengthen internal inspection and supervision, especially in cases where treatment regimens are adjusted between follow-up visits.
Ensure information technology infrastructure and complete the roadmap for implementing electronic prescriptions before October 1, 2025 for hospitals; before January 1, 2026 for other facilities.
To effectively implement, medical facilities need to organize internal professional training, unify the process of prescribing - dispensing medicine - monitoring re-examination.
At the same time, strengthen communication to patients, helping people understand correctly about being prescribed 2-3 months of health insurance medicine for chronic diseases that is not "arbitrarily dispensed"; clearly understand health insurance benefits and the appropriate time for re-examination according to the doctor's appointment; limit the situation of patients having unnecessary re-examination many times, contributing to reducing hospital overload and saving treatment costs.
It is noted that most medical facilities in the city have seriously implemented and well implemented the regulations in the circular, especially the use of unified prescription forms, control of prescriptions for addictive and psychotropic drugs, single prescription for each visit and compliance with drug expiration dates.
Up to now, most public hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have completed integrating the electronic prescription system into the hospital management software (HIS) and trained doctors to use it proficiently.
Prescribing long-term medication is one of the important steps in chronic disease management, especially in the context of Ho Chi Minh City residents' increasing demand for stable and convenient treatment at grassroots health facilities.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health continues to coordinate with hospitals, the city's Social Insurance and related units to monitor the implementation process, ensuring professional efficiency, patient safety and health insurance benefits.
Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health: Implementing prescriptions in outpatient treatment
On July 1, 2025, Circular No. 26/2025/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health officially took effect, regulating prescription forms and prescriptions for pharmaceuticals and biological products in outpatient treatment at medical facilities nationwide. The Circular replaces old circulars such as 52/2017/TT-BYT, 18/2018/TT-BYT, 04/2022/TT-BYT and 27/2021/TT-BYT, marking an important step forward in enhancing patient rights and standardizing drug prescription and dispensing.
New regulations on long-term prescriptions for chronic diseases: According to Clause 8, Article 6 of the circular, for chronic diseases in the list issued with Appendix VII (including 252 diseases/disease groups such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurological, endocrine diseases...), patients can be prescribed for a maximum of 90 days (3 months) if their health condition is stable.
This helps reduce the number of visits for re-examination, which is especially meaningful for the elderly, the disabled, and people in remote areas. At the same time, it creates favorable conditions for patients to receive continuous treatment according to the regimen, reducing pressure on upper-level hospitals.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/so-y-te-tp-hcm-ke-don-thuoc-benh-man-tinh-2-3-thang-khong-phai-cap-phat-tuy-y-20250710140454476.htm
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