Notes for foreign investors to establish specialized clinics in Vietnam

Here are a few things to keep in mind for this procedure:

1. Requirements for specialized clinics

- Regarding finance, according to Vietnam's Commitment on Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), medical services is a conditional business line. The minimum investment capital for a commercial presence in hospital services must be at least US$20 million for a hospital, US$2 million for a policlinic unit and US$200,000 for a specialty unit. 

- Regarding the specialized techniques that the specialized clinic will register, foreign investors should note that the licensing of these techniques will be evaluated on many criteria. For example, the license for the technique of “corneal transplant surgery twice or more – in ophthalmology” will be approved by the Director of the Provincial Department of Health on the basis of actual capacity, practice certificates of doctors and conditions of medical equipment and facilities of the clinic after consulting the expert council.

- In terms of facilities, foreign investors need to meet the minimum area prescribed by law for each type of functional room in the specialized clinic according to the promulgated technical regulations and have a separate division between those rooms.

Usually, new specialized clinics often rent available space to serve as medical examination and treatment facilities, thus, the foreign investor needs to negotiate with the landlord to have the right to renovate the leased area to suit the design and construction requirements of the specialized clinic that the foreign investor wants to register to operate.

On the other hand, some foreign investors often take advantage of the leased location to both act as a place of specialized clinic and as a family residence to reduce costs but it should be noted that the law requires these areas to be separate from each other.

- Regarding medical equipment, specialized clinics should have medical equipment suitable to the scope of expertise that will apply for a license for medical examination and treatment of specialized clinics (License) to introduce to State agencies in the appraisal sessions of facilities or assess the ability to perform technical expertise for appropriate approval.

2. Initially registered personnel

The qualifications and experience of the person responsible for the technical expertise are important factors in being considered for a License. However, foreign investors should note that:

- The person in charge of professional and technical expertise of a specialized clinic is usually a doctor who directly performs medical examination and treatment. The law requires this person to have a professional diploma, practice certificate, certificate of completion of internship, and only perform medical examination and treatment within the scope of their assigned work. In addition, a practitioner may only be registered to be responsible for the technical expertise of only one specialized clinic.

- A doctor registered as a person in charge of professional and technical expertise of a specialized clinic is allowed to work overtime at other medical examination and treatment establishments in the same province but the total overtime working time does not exceed 200 hours according to the provisions of the Labor Code 2012 of Vietnam.

- Foreign doctors working at specialized clinics must have a work permit, a labor contract signed with the specialized clinic and a certificate of proficiency in Vietnamese. If he/she does not know Vietnamese fluently, an interpreter is required.

- An interpreter is required to have a certificate of eligibility for making translation in healthcare in accordance with the language registered by the foreign doctor for medical examination and treatment and a labor contract with the specialized clinic.

3. Procedures for establishment of specialized clinics

After fully preparing the above requirements, foreign investors need to take the following steps to get a license for establishment of specialized clinic:

- Step 1: Foreign investors apply for an investment certificate for the implementation of the specialized clinic project. The competent authority is the Department of Planning and Investment where the specialized clinic is located, and will grant the license to foreign investors within 45 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier.

- Step 2: Foreign investors request to issue business registration certificates for enterprises (also specialized clinics). The Department of Planning and Investment at the place where the specialized clinic is located will issue it within 3 working days.

- Step 3: Specialized clinics apply for a License. The Department of Health (SYT) where the PKCK is located will issue this Permit within 90 working days.

At this step, the Department of Health will carry out 2 procedures which are (i) appraise the facilities at the Securities Trading Center and (ii) hold a meeting of the Technical and Professional Council of the Department of Health to appraise the scope of expertise registered for operation and technical list at the request of the specialized clinic, with the presentation of the person responsible for the technical expertise of the specialized clinic.

In addition, foreign investors should additionally note:

- Documents issued abroad must be legally consular and translated into Vietnamese, the translation must be certified according to the provisions of Vietnamese law;

- Documents on registration of environmental protection plan, contract for treatment of medical waste and domestic waste, confirmation of fire prevention and fighting conditions at specialized clinics need to be prepared at Step 3 above;

- Professional diplomas issued by foreign parties to doctors often do not detail the specialized techniques for which the doctor is trained or issued as a single certificate, which can make it difficult for the specialized clinic to convince the Department of Health's technical expertise board that the doctor is trained or capable of performing the registered technical expertise for approval.

Source: doanhnhansaigon.vn

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