Doctors conduct online consultancy at a provincial hospital. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Experts discussed payments
for remote health examination and treatment with health insurance during a
conference held by the Ministry of Health on June 1 in Hanoi.
said remote health examination and treatment was an
effective measure to raise work effectiveness in grassroots levels while
reducing the burden on upper-level hospitals.
It also helped patients by cutting their travel time and
expenses.
However, the implementation of remote health examination and
treatment still met lots of obstacles, especially payment with .
Chairing the conference, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen
Thanh Long said and treatment meant multi-hospital
consultations and could not replace traditional examination and treatment.
Two main problems should be resolved, Long said, including
how grassroots-level hospitals learn skills regularly and when they are in
need, and how residents receive health support regularly and when they are in
need.
An effective system is needed to apply information technology
in the work.
Long said multi-hospital and online consultancy helped bring
the best treatment method for COVID-19 patients, especially serious ones, the
43-year-old British pilot for example.
“The best professors and experts of the health sector have
online discussions about his condition and proper treatment for him. So far he
has had initial improvement,” said Long.
Long asked hospitals to set up a strategy for using online
health examination and treatment systems.
“We should push technology into the system to promote its
efficiency and quality,” he said.
Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Medical Services
Administration, said thanks to remote health examination and treatment,
residents in remote areas could access high-quality medical services but
expenses for travel and services would be minimised.
Central hospitals have enough capacity and infrastructure for
the project, according to Khue.
The project’s main activities include telemedicine
counselling, telemedicine consultation, remote image diagnostic consultation,
remote anatomy and surgical consultation, use of apps in medical services and
technology transfer.
Fifteen hospitals across the country in the satellite
hospital system are scheduled to join the project.
Most of the expenses for the project come from the State
budget and as many as 400 hospitals in provinces and districts will benefit
from the project.
Nguyen Lan Hieu, Director of the Hanoi Medical University Hospital, said the
hospital had conducted remote health examinations and treatment for
district-level hospitals.
The hospital had offered remote consultancy twice a week for
16 satellite hospitals.
In the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, the Hanoi Medical University Hospital
not only connected to the provincial hospital but also 11 district hospitals.
“The most difficult problem is the infrastructure and
equipment for the work. Payment for doctors also meet obstacles because a
proper policy is needed,” said Hieu.
Tran Minh Dien, Deputy Director of the National Paediatrics
Hospital, said the hospital had used video calls for online consultancy
successfully in 10 cases.
“To conduct remote health examination and
successfully, we need good task forces and detailed concerned policies,” he
said.
To implement the project soon, Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh
Long asked the Health Insurance Department to urgently work with the Department
of Planning and Finance to set up a system of expenses for remote health
examination and treatment with health insurance./.
Source: VietnamPlus
