Key new points in the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended)

Press Conference to Announce the Order of the Acting President of the State to Promulgate the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended).

On the morning of February 3, at the Presidential Palace, the Office of the President of the State held a press conference to announce the Decree of the Acting President of the State to promulgate the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended), which was just passed by the 15th National Assembly at the 2nd Extraordinary Session. Deputy Chief of the Office of the President Pham Thanh Ha presided over the press conference.

The Necessity of Promulgating the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended)

The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended) aims to concretize the Party's and State's policies, address limitations and inadequacies, and resolve newly arising issues to develop and improve the quality of healthcare services for the people in a direction that is equitable, high-quality, effective, developing, and internationally integrated.

At the same time, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended) contributes to strengthening the efficiency, effectiveness, order, discipline, and regulation of state management of medical examination and treatment activities.

The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended) is constructed on the perspective of continuing to promptly and fully institutionalize the Party’s and State's guidelines and policies on enhancing the work of protecting, caring for, and improving the health of the people in the new situation.

Putting the patient at the center of all medical examination and treatment service activities based on enhancing access to high-quality medical examination and treatment services in line with international practices.

Continuing to implement the policy of private investment in and diversifying types of healthcare services with the active participation of professional associations, practitioners, and patients; ensuring equity between state-owned and private medical examination and treatment facilities.

Simultaneously, reform the mechanism to ensure patients' rights associated with practitioners' responsibilities and medical examination and treatment facilities, as well as the rights of practitioners and medical examination and treatment facilities associated with the responsibilities of patients and their relatives.

Focus on accelerating administrative procedure reforms, applying information technology in medical examination and treatment activities. Ensuring constitutionality, legality, consistency, and feasibility, in line with international legal standards on medical examination and treatment, and ensuring gender equality.

New Points of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended)

The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 15/2023/QH15 includes 12 chapters and 121 articles and contains fundamental new points. Among them, enhancing professional skills and strengthening the management of practitioners' activities: To improve the quality management of medical examination and treatment services provided by practitioners and institutionalize the Party’s viewpoint on medical examination and treatment work, the Law expands the scope of practice by changing from issuing practice licenses based on professional diplomas to issuing practice licenses based on professional titles.

The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (Amended) has enhanced and standardized practitioners' skills. Specifically: The Law changes the method of issuing practice licenses from issuing licenses through dossier review to requiring competency assessment before issuing practice licenses.

The Law stipulates that practice licenses are valid for 5 years and mandates that updating medical knowledge is one of the conditions for license renewal.

Foreign practitioners working long-term in Vietnam and providing medical examination and treatment for Vietnamese people must use Vietnamese proficiently in medical examination and treatment, except in some cases of expert exchange cooperation, technology transfer, and training.

The Law mandates the application of electronic prescriptions, electronic medical records, and that this information must connect with the medical examination and treatment activity management information system to control and supervise the quality of services provided by practitioners and to link medical examination and treatment results among medical facilities.

In addition to this, the Law also has regulations to improve the quality of services provided by medical facilities, enhancing the public's access to medical examination and treatment services.

Regarding improving the quality of services provided by medical facilities: Supplementing mandatory regulations for facilities to self-assess their medical examination and treatment quality according to the basic quality standards issued annually by the Ministry of Health and must update self-assessment results on the medical examination and treatment activity management information system as a basis for inspection, evaluation, and public disclosure of the quality level of medical examination and treatment facilities.

Supplementing regulations that medical examination and treatment facilities must apply information technology to gradually interconnect medical examination and treatment results among facilities, facilitating patients and also as a solution for managing the practice activities of organizations and individuals.

Regarding enhancing public access to medical examination and treatment services, the Law changes from four levels of specialization to three levels of specialization.

Permitting private multi-specialty clinics in economically and socially particularly difficult areas to organize inpatient beds for monitoring and treating patients but for no more than 72 hours.

Developing telemedicine activities to contribute to achieving universal health coverage by improving patients' access to quality, effective, cost-efficient medical services anytime and anywhere, particularly for less severe chronic diseases that require long-term, regular care.

Additionally, renewing some regulations related to conditions ensuring the implementation of medical examination and treatment activities.

Stipulating specific policies of the State in training human resources for medical examination and treatment work: There shall be policies to encourage and motivate students majoring in psychiatry, pathology, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, infectious diseases, and intensive care.

Supporting 100% tuition fees and living expenses for the entire course for those studying one of the majors in psychiatry, pathology, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, infectious diseases, and intensive care at State health sector training institutions;

Supporting tuition fees and living costs for the entire course for those studying one of the above-mentioned majors at private health sector training institutions corresponding to the stipulated levels in this provision.

Simultaneously, supplementing financial regulations: Adding specific provisions on the autonomy of state medical examination and treatment facilities, affirming that “State medical examination and treatment facilities are guaranteed funding by the State to perform the functions and duties assigned by competent state agencies.”

Supplementing regulations on mobilizing resources, affirming that medical examination and treatment facilities are allowed: To borrow capital to invest in infrastructure projects, medical equipment; To rent or lease assets, clinical services, paraclinical services, non-medical services, pharmacy services, management, and operation services of medical examination and treatment facilities.

The Law also specifically stipulates the elements forming the pricing of medical examination and treatment services and that the prices of medical examination and treatment services at State medical facilities must ensure accurate and full cost recovery as per the roadmap prescribed by the Government of Vietnam to cover the costs of medical examination and treatment and accumulate funds.

According to the Government Electronic Information Portal

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