People have been queuing since early morning, and it's still past noon and it's not their turn yet.
At Cho Ray Hospital, almost every day of the week, even after 11 a.m., hundreds of people still stand in line waiting for their turn to be examined, the majority of whom are elderly or have multiple underlying health conditions. Mr. Nguyen Van Ut (65 years old, residing in Tra Vinh province) said that he suffers from hepatitis, osteoarthritis, gout, diabetes, and high blood pressure simultaneously. His condition worsened, so his son drove him to Cho Ray Hospital at 3:30 a.m., but even then, he couldn't escape the tiring wait in line.
At An Binh Hospital, similar overcrowding occurs day after day. Mr. Nguyen Van Trinh (36 years old, residing in District 6, Ho Chi Minh City) lamented that he took his mother for a check-up at 5 am, holding a stack of referral slips for clinical tests, waiting endlessly because the queue number was hundreds behind the number already occupied. “My mother suffered a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair. She comes to the hospital monthly for check-ups and medication. Each time she comes to the hospital, it takes up half a day. The longest wait is for registration, followed by the examination and medication collection. One person goes for a check-up, but two people are exhausted,” Mr. Trinh shared.
The Ministry of Health has issued document No. 2909/BYT-BH regarding the implementation of initial registration for medical examination and treatment, patient referral to other medical facilities, and follow-up appointment slips at medical facilities. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health requires that initial registration for health insurance-covered medical examination and treatment and patient referral should not create additional procedures or cause inconvenience to patients...
Not only at general hospitals but also at specialized hospitals at the highest level, patients are queuing in huge numbers for examinations and treatments. At Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, etc., even though it was past noon, many patients had not yet had their turn to be examined despite queuing since early morning.
Most patients came from provincial areas such as Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, and Vinh Long... From the examination rooms to the main hall, patients filled the rows of chairs, next to them were long lines of people waiting for their turn. The wait was so long and tiring that many patients had to sit on the floor and fall asleep because they had waited for more than 2-3 hours without being called…
Not yet familiar with registering for appointments online.
Recently, hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have implemented solutions to reduce waiting times for patients, such as: continuous examinations (no lunch break); examinations earlier than the scheduled time; examinations by appointment; increasing the number of examination rooms, etc. Many hospitals have implemented online appointment registration, including QR codes for app-based online appointment scheduling in each patient's prescription... However, these solutions have not been very effective, as few people have the habit of choosing to register for medical examinations online.
According to statistics from the Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital, the number of patients registering for online appointments accounts for only about 13.7%, despite the hospital's active encouragement of this practice. At People's Hospital 115, while receiving approximately 1,000-1,200 health insurance-covered examinations daily, only about 200-240 register online (approximately 20%), and the majority of patients register for health insurance-covered examinations upon arrival at the hospital...
Explaining the reasons above, doctors say that most patients visiting tertiary hospitals are from provinces who have been transferred to Ho Chi Minh City and are unfamiliar with the improved medical examination and treatment procedures of the hospitals; the patients are mainly middle-aged and elderly, with limited access to technology, primarily using social media platforms for communication. In addition, some patients worry about having to pay fees or fear being scammed when registering for appointments online…
Meanwhile, according to Dr. Diep Bao Tuan, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, the number of newly diagnosed cancer patients is increasing, leading to a rise in the number of patients seeking treatment at the hospital. In addition, most patients come from other provinces and often need to have their examinations completed within the day, so they tend to arrive early in the morning. To alleviate the burden on patients, the hospital has implemented several solutions, such as organizing and streamlining patient reception and examination procedures.
Starting at 5 AM; increasing the number of radiotherapy sessions beginning early in the morning and ending around midnight; organizing surgeries outside of regular working hours and on Saturdays; chemotherapy outside of regular working hours on Saturdays... At the same time, the hospital encourages patients to use the app and website to schedule appointments. In addition, the hospital also organizes patient flow and scheduling by applying a smart appointment scheduling system; prioritizing separate examinations for the elderly, patients with severe conditions, pediatric patients, etc.
Proposals suggest extending the duration of medication prescriptions for certain chronic diseases.
According to health experts, many patients with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, and arthritis, despite having stable treatment, still have to go to the hospital every month to wait for their scheduled medication, leading to severe overcrowding. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the time allocated for prescribing medication for certain chronic diseases, helping patients avoid unnecessary travel, saving time and costs. At the same time, this would reduce the burden on hospitals in providing health insurance coverage for patients with stable chronic diseases; especially reducing costs for the health insurance fund by eliminating the need to pay for unnecessary tests.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/met-moi-kham-benh-bao-hiem-y-te-post795974.html
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