Doctors from the Việt Đức Hospital examine children with congenital anomaly. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — While several services are seeing price increases in line with the Ministry of Health (MoH)’s regulations, a notable decrease in prices has been observed for many technical services, particularly on-demand surgery.

This change comes in the wake of the MoH's Circular 13/2023, which details the pricing for medical examination and treatment services, and became effective this past Tuesday.

At the Hà Nội-based Việt Đức Hospital, close to 1,500 medical services are clearly displayed, with their prices listed both before and after the implementation of this circular.

A reporter from the Người lao động (The Labourer) newspaper noted that the majority of the service prices are either equal to or less than the maximum rates established by the MoH. These prices are substantially lower compared to the rates that this hospital previously charged.

Under the new pricing scheme, the cost of on-demand medical examinations at the Việt Đức Hospital has been set at VNĐ500,000 (US$21) for various types of requests. For individuals with health insurance, the fee is reduced to VNĐ461,000 ($19).

In the past, the maximum charge for an on-demand medical examination and treatment at the Việt Đức Hospital, when requested from experts, was VNĐ2 million ($84).

There have also been significant reductions in the prices of numerous other technical services. For example, the cost of a thyroid ultrasound has decreased from VNĐ300,000 ($12) to VNĐ291,000, an ovarian ultrasound from VNĐ500,000 to VNĐ287,000, and treatment for disc herniation from VNĐ13 million ($549) to nearly VNĐ2.4 million ($101).

Furthermore, the prices for many surgical services, which are a specialty of the Việt Đức Hospital, have been substantially lowered. For instance, the price for chronic ischemic surgery has been reduced from VNĐ43 million ($1,800) to nearly VNĐ13 million ($548).

Dương Đức Hùng, the director of the hospital, confirmed that the hospital had not increased the price for any on-demand services.

Despite these significant price reductions, the quality of service provided by the hospital remained unchanged.

"The hospital will improve quality to ensure patients’ interests, the quality of medical examination and treatment is the priority," said Hùng.

Similarly, at the Hà Nội Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, starting from August 15, the cost of a caesarean section for a first delivery has been reduced from VNĐ16 million ($675) to just over VNĐ6.7 million ($283), while for a second delivery, the price is now set at VNĐ7.6 million.

For normal births, the service price has been lowered from VNĐ14 million to VNĐ4.3 million.

A medical expert, explaining the considerable drop in prices for many on-demand services, suggested that previously, hospitals might have been charging for the highest-quality supplies and fully accounting for inflation in their calculations.

This is the first time the MoH has issued a circular concerning prices for on-demand medical examination and treatment. As such, the expert anticipated that these prices would likely be adjusted annually, taking into account the minimum salary and inflation.

Same prices

The prices of on-demand medical examination and treatment services at various hospitals in HCM City remained unchanged after Tuesday.

A representative from HCM City Children's Hospital No 1 stated that the hospital was applying its old price list. The unit was in the process of reviewing the prices in order to make adjustments, after which it would submit the proposed new prices to the municipal Department of Health for approval.

Trần Văn Khanh, the director of Lê Văn Thịnh Hospital in Thủ Đức City, mentioned that the hospital was maintaining its old price list and had also installed new amenities, such as televisions and air conditioners, to enhance patient comfort.

Considering the ongoing hardships faced by residents after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Khanh said that the hospital had opted not to increase prices at this time. — VNS