Contents and use of economic – technical norms for medical services in Vietnam

Contents and use of economic – technical norms for medical services in Vietnam (Internet image)

Contents and use of economic – technical norms for medical services in Vietnam

This is the content of Circular 19/2022/TT-BYT providing guidelines for development of economic – technical norms for medical services under management of the Ministry of Health

According to Circular 19/2022/TT-BYT, economic – technical norms for medical services include:

- Direct labor norms;

- Norms for drugs and medical supplies;

- Device use norms (excluding medical supplies).

Economic – technical norms are used as the basis for pricing of medical services, including:

- Direct labor norms are the basis for calculation of salaries;

- Norms for drug and medical supplies are the basis for calculation of direct expenses;

- Device use norms (excluding medical supplies) are the basis for calculating depreciation.

Pricing elements without economic – technical norms prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 3 of Circular 19/2022/TT-BYT(such as depreciation of infrastructure; maintenance of infrastructure and equipment; energy, fuel; bacterial contamination control; management – administration) shall be determined according to pricing methods prescribed by pricing laws.

Calculation of direct labor norms in Vietnam

Direct labor norm shall be calculated according to the quantity of workers, number of hours and professional expertise that are necessary to directly provide 01 medical service.

Calculation of norms for drugs and medical supplies in Vietnam

- Determine the list, categories of drugs and medical supplies that are necessary for each medical service in order to include them to the economic – technical norms. The drugs and medical supplies that are used but are not included in economic – technical norms shall be calculated in accordance with Clause 3 Article 3 of this Circular.

- The norms for drugs and medical supplies shall be determined according to instructions or regulations of the manufacturers or other relevant regulations.

- In case a unit of drug or medical supply can be used for provision of a medical service more than 1 time (such as probes, ultrasound gel, employees' clothing), the norm shall be calculated as follows:

Norm for a drug/medical supply = 1/Number of times used

- Determine loss percentage (if any).

Calculation of device use norms in Vietnam

- Determine the location of medical service provision (such as operating room, minor surgery room, testing room).

- Tally up the devices used for completion of a medical service, including devices directly used for the procedure and devices commonly used in room where the technique is performed (such as air conditioners, lights).

- Determine the device use norm by finding the necessary period of time over which a device is used to provide a medical service once or multiple times, or multiple medical services at a time.

Rules for development and application of economic – technical norms in Vietnam

Economic – technical norms shall be developed based on science, reality and moving average.

Economic – technical norms must not be used as the basis for verification of costs of medical services that have been provided.

Duong Chau Thanh

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