Lawmakers propose regulations of financial autonomy for public medical facilities
National Assembly deputies exchanged views on a draft Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (amended) and some of its contents with mixed opinions, during the ongoing fourth session of the 15th legislature on October 24 morning.
Chairwoman of the NA Committee on Social Affairs Nguyen Thuy Anh said that the revised draft Law has 12 chapters and 121 articles, 15 articles more than the draft submitted to the National Assembly at the third session.
Some deputies said that medical examination and treatment is a special service, and the authority to decide on these prices still needs to follow the principle of exact and adequate calculation.
The State manages and promulgates medical check-up and treatment prices for public establishments, and stipulates the price range for those implementing the autonomy and socialisation mechanisms. Prices offered by the private medical establishments must comply with the provisions of the Law on Prices, but a mechanism on price control is required to protect the interests of patients.
Deputy Tran Khanh Thu from Thai Binh province proposed the addition of an article stipulating financial autonomy for the public health establishments.
Health Minister Dao Hong Lan said that the draft law will concretise forms of attracting social resources in medical examination and treatment; and initially address the current shortcomings that medical facilities are facing.
It can solve the problem of the price of medical examination and treatment not calculated accurately and adequately, she stressed.
Regarding the National Medical Council’s organisation of national assessments of medical school graduates, Lan said that it is in line with international integration trends in the region and in the world.
The draft law stipulates that State management agencies will base themselves on these assessment results to grant medical examination and treatment practice licenses to ensure objectivity in assessing the professional capacity of medical examination and treatment practitioners.
