Patients have limited access to advanced technology due to financial barriers.

Patient rights in the diagnosis and treatment process still have shortcomings, and hidden costs still exist. The lack of synchronization of data leads to duplicate testing and diagnosis, causing costs and affecting the quality of treatment.

Professor Tran Van Thuan, Deputy Minister of Health, pointed out a number of issues related to the quality of diagnosis and treatment at the workshop "Further improving patient rights in diagnosis and treatment", organized by Tien Phong Newspaper today, May 8.

Medicines and techniques covered by health insurance need to be updated so that patients are not left behind due to financial barriers.

PHOTO: LIEN CHAU

Mr. Thuan also pointed out a number of key points that need to be adjusted to increase people's access to advanced technology and improve the quality of treatment, in which financial solutions play an important role.

Mr. Thuan also said that the health sector has determined that the roadmap for 2026 - 2030 and 2031 - 2035 will focus on synchronously implementing key tasks to gradually realize the two major policies emphasized by the General Secretary : "Strive for each citizen to have a periodic health check-up at least once a year and move towards free hospital fees for all people".

The health sector is planning to amend the Health Insurance Law to specify some contents towards free medical examination and treatment for people.

Proposal to update new screening and treatment techniques

At the workshop, hospital leaders shared that about 80% of inpatients have health insurance coverage.   However, health insurance premiums are currently at a basic level, while people increasingly need access to high-tech services.

To improve the quality of diagnosis and treatment, and better ensure the professional rights of patients, hospitals are increasingly investing in new machines and equipment at great cost. For example, a surgical robot costs more than 80 billion VND.

However, due to the limited coverage of health insurance, many diagnostic techniques on modern equipment systems have not been included in the payment list, which will limit patients' access when indicated.

"Currently, many patients have a need for medical examination and treatment at a higher level than the basic medical examination and treatment level that health insurance is currently paying for. Therefore, with the entire population having compulsory health insurance, there is also a need for many other forms of insurance to participate in the health sector, to have more sources of spending on health care, contributing to improving the quality of medical services that patients directly benefit from," said Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital.

According to some suggestions at the conference, there should be more modern diagnostic and treatment techniques covered by health insurance. This will give patients more opportunities to be diagnosed correctly and treated more effectively. In particular, it helps to diagnose some dangerous diseases early, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc. for timely treatment, with lower costs and much higher efficiency than cases of late detection.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/benh-nhan-bi-han-che-tiep-can-ky-thuat-cao-do-rao-can-tai-chinh-185250508170445707.htm