Health Minister Đào Hồng Lan speaks at the annual conference of the Northern Hospital Directors Club Meeting taking place in Hạ Long City on March 16. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

QUẢNG NINH — Hospital quality management, patient safety and medical human resources were the main topics of discussion at the annual conference of the Northern Hospital Directors Club Meeting taking place in Hạ Long City on March 16.

Minister of Health Đào Hồng Lan said that the annual meeting was an opportunity for hospital managers and health experts to discuss and jointly solve pressing issues related to bidding, procurement of drugs, machinery and equipment, medical equipment and health insurance settlement.

Lan said: “Hospital management is expected to continue to face many difficulties and challenges, including issues of financial management, procurement of drugs and medical equipment supply, human resource management and hospital quality management, requiring safe and flexible adaptation in new situations and a stronger and more positive transformation from the health sector to take better care of the people.”

The health minister also asked the entire hospital system to prioritise human resources, promote the application of information technology to implement the National Digital Transformation Programme, improve hospital management capacity and efficiency and create favourable conditions for people to access medical services.

Lan also suggested the entire industry focus on promoting and applying information technology and digital transformation in reforming administrative procedures to reduce inconvenience for patients and businesses, adding that the health sector has cut 92 administrative procedures in the past years.

“Priorities should be focused on improving the quality of medical examination and treatment and hospital operation management, especially prioritising the issue of improving quality and patient safety,” added the minister.

The 2024 Northern Province Hospital Directors Club Meeting was attended by leaders of more than 100 member hospitals in the North. With the patient-centred principle, the meeting aims to bring satisfaction, safety and the best quality of medical services to patients, meeting the people's medical examination and treatment needs.

Health Minister Đào Hồng Lan and chairman of the Northern Hospital Directors Club Đào Xuân Cơ hand over gifts to the fund for the poor patients of Quảng Ninh Province. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

At the event, participants heard that the forum contributed to promoting the development of health sector policies and strengthened the hospital system effectively following the law.

They also discussed new points in the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, the Law on Bidding in the health sector, the new Decree on health insurance and the Resolution on digital transformation to 2025 and orientation to 2030.

Associate Professor, Dr. Đào Xuân Cơ, Director of Bạch Mai General Hospital and chairman of the Northern Hospital Directors Club, said that the forum will be a forum for hospital managers to discuss and share experiences in many important areas of hospital management.

Prof. Cơ said that IT applications will improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, bringing satisfaction to the patient.

He said: "The simplest thing that everyone can see about the effectiveness of IT application in the reception and payment of hospital fees because it reduces waiting time for patients.

"Instead of having to count money and prepare money retail returns, the application of IT with cashless payment makes this convenient, fast, accurate and especially transparent.

“By cutting down on cumbersome financial procedures, doctors and medical staff will only focus on medical examination and treatment, thereby improving the quality of medical examination and treatment and patients will be more satisfied.

"Therefore, hospitals need to drastically implement it. And as hospital directors, we are certainly determined to do it, because only digital transformation can elevate the hospital, from management to openness and transparency.

“Every year Bạch Mai Hospital has to spend tens of billions of đồng to buy film and print diagnostic scan results. If the digital transformation is successful, we will save tens of billions đồng, because there is no need to print the resulting film and at the same time it also protects the environment." — VNS