Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
medical tests are done in the country each year, but only a third of the
country’s health facilities subject their tests to
(EQAs).
At a recent seminar on medical testing
control organised by the Ministry of Health, a report said that of the 448
million tests, around 90 million are done by hospitals managed directly by the
ministry and 240 million are done by hospitals at the provincial level.
Ta Thanh Van, Vice Rector of Hanoi Medical
University, and Director of the Centre for Medical Testing Quality Control,
said just one third of health facilities in the country bothered to utilise EQA,
an important independent monitoring tool.
Van said one of the factors behind the
reluctance to have medical tests independently assessed could be the cost. Each
laboratory would have to spend around 200 million VND (8,800 USD) each year for
EQAs, he said.
“This amount can be a burden for most
facilities, especially those at lower levels or in remote areas where the
number of patients are less than in big centres,” Van said.
He also said improved quality can be seen
at health centres that use EQAs.
“Problems with human resources or equipment
have been addressed at these facilities. Thus the quality of their service has
improved,” he said, adding that private health facilities were more likely than
their public counterparts to conduct EQAs.
Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy head of the Department of Medical
Examination and Treatment Department, said the Health Ministry was working on
the number and quality of laboratories nationwide and would make public a list
of localities with low EQA rates.
The ministry would also try to ensure that
by 2018, all by certain laboratories can be connected and
accessed by others in the group. By 2025, this information sharing should
happen nationwide.
The ministry thus has asked all hospitals
and laboratories to make plans to upgrade their facilities and human resources.
Regulations on mutual recognition of medical test results will be issued.
“We will propose to the Ministry of Finance
that medical test costs are fixed in accordance with the quality of care provided
by the health facility. This is not the situation today,” Khoa said.
The country now has 48 laboratories
recognised as meeting the ISO 15189:2012 standard, which specifies requirements
for quality and competence in medical laboratories.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
