However, concerns have been raised about how medical service costs will be counted and whether hospitals will be allowed to increase costs or not.

The project will be implemented at Bạch Mai Hospital, Việt Nam-Germany Hospital, Central Oncology Hospital in Ha Noi and Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City.

It aims to enable the hospitals to optimise the use of resources and improve their capacity and quality of services to ensure public health, and maintain and develop advanced techniques, not only to serve local patients but foreign patients as well.

At a discussion on ‘Hospital Autonomy: Improving healthcare quality’ organised by the Government Portal on August 28, vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs Bui Sy Loi said medical autonomy must address two things. The first is to provide better public healthcare services and improve healthcare check-ups and treatment quality. The second is to give hospitals the right to make decisions on their functions, responsibilities, structure, bodies and finance, in order to improve public healthcare service quality.

Autonomy must not create obstacles for patients and increase medical costs. It must create open mechanisms and improve service quality. Once hospitals are granted autonomy, they are given decision-making rights. That may lead to profiteering or increasing service fees if medical facilities do not fulfil their management tasks. It is an important issue that autonomous hospitals must address to show their responsibility, Loi said.

The four hospitals granted autonomy are the country’s leading medical facilities. It must be noted that autonomy does not mean only focusing on profits. They must not forget their important political tasks and be consistent in transferring technical services to lower-level healthcare facilities, he said.

Nguyen Nam Lien, head of the Financial Planning Department under the Ministry of Health, said increases in medical costs at autonomous hospitals must follow regulations and instructions of the health ministry. State supervision agencies and the State Audit of Viet Nam will conduct financial inspections at these hospitals every year.

The four autonomous hospitals received investment from the State budget. Once they are granted autonomy, these hospitals will no longer receive investment from the State and must manage their own budget collection and spending, he said.

“They are still State-owned hospitals, not enterprises. The primary task of these hospitals is to provide healthcare services covered by health insurance. They are not allowed to collect medical costs higher than the health ministry’s cap,” he said.