Public health portal officially launched

Available at https://congkhaiyte.moh.gov.vn, the portal is a joint effort
between the ministry and military-run telecom group Viettel to publicise
medical information towards an open, transparent health sector as well as
providing the best health care for the people.

The portal provides information across five public areas, including pharmacy and
cosmetics, medical equipment, food safety, examination and treatment, and
public administration.

Speaking at the launch, emphasised that
the portal is the ministry’s official channel for people and businesses to look
up information on drug and medical equipment prices, medical examination and
treatment fees, information on circulating or recalled products, and the
results of administrative procedures.

Through the Public Health Portal, people can exercise their right to inform
themselves and monitor services provided by the health sector, Long said,
adding that certain aspects are revolutionary in the medical sector, such as
the portal making public a huge amount of information, including medical
service fees.

Currently, 1,490 medical facilities and hospitals nationwide have publicly
announced their service prices. In the near future, the ministry will require
all clinics to publicise their medical service fees and their quality levels,
as well as patients’ satisfaction assessments, according to Long.

In addition, the entire medical licensing process will be made public, he
informed, adding that the ministry is promoting artificial intelligence (AI) in
licensing for the pharmaceutical industry.

The ministry has developed a software system to support the price disclosure,
allowing enterprises to register and to be granted accounts for
self-implementation and are responsible for managing information posted
publicly regarding the medical equipment price on the portal.

Hoang Son, Viettel Group Deputy General Director, pledged that his corporation
would improve the features of the portal with the application of new
technologies such as AI and virtual assistant (chatbot) in the interactions
with users, as well as automatically answering questions and ensuring absolute
safety and confidentiality for the effective operation of the portal./.