This morning (November 26, 224), a policy dialogue seminar on “Policy issues in implementing financial autonomy in public hospitals” was held at National Economics University (NEU).

An overview of the seminar

Attending the seminar from outside the University were Dr. Le Van Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Sinh Hien, MD, Director of Hanoi Heart Hospital; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Minh Dien, Director of Hanoi Children’s Hospital; Khuc Kim Ngan, Chief Accountant of Hanoi Heart Hospital; Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Head of the Department of Organization at K Hospital; Nguyen Thi Hanh, Head of the Department of Accounting at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases; Nguyen Thi Thu Dung, a member of the 15th National Assembly and the Thai Binh Province National Assembly Delegation; and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Kim Chung, former Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management.

Speakers included MSc. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc, Deputy Head of the Finance Division, Department of Planning and Finance, Ministry of Health; Dr. Nguyen Khanh Phuong, Director of the Health Strategy and Policy Institute, Ministry of Health; and MSc. Vu Thanh Nam, MD, Engineer, a health economics research expert at the Institute of Health Science Research, Vietnam Military-Civilian Medicine Association. Also attending were delegates from the Central Theoretical Council; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Finance; Vietnam Social Security; the Health Strategy and Policy Institute; the Institute of Health Science Research; and the Vietnam Health Economics Association; representatives of major public hospitals that have implemented or are implementing autonomy, such as Bach Mai Hospital, 108 Hospital, K Hospital, and the National Children’s Hospital; as well as economists, scientists, and research institutes at universities.

Representing NEU were Prof. Dr. Pham Hong Chuong, President of NEU; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hieu, Vice President of NEU; Prof. Dr. To Trung Thanh, Head of the Department of Research Management; members of the Science and Training Council; representatives of the leadership of schools, departments, faculties, institutes, and centers; and NEU scientists, faculty and staff.

Prof. Dr. Pham Hong Chuong, President of NEU, delivers remarks.

In his opening remarks at the seminar, Prof. Dr. Pham Hong Chuong, President of NEU, stated, “Since the 1990s, the Vietnamese Government has introduced regulations that laid the groundwork for hospital autonomy, allowing public hospitals to collect fees from patients to generate additional funding to improve patient care conditions. Public hospital autonomy was formally stipulated and implemented under Government Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006.

The Government subsequently issued Decree No. 16/2015/NĐ-CP on February 14, 2015, introducing new regulations on autonomy mechanisms for public service units, including public hospitals. Evaluation studies show that the policy of financial autonomy for public hospitals has brought about important changes, including increased revenue for public hospitals, a broader range of medical examination and treatment services, higher hospital capacity utilization, improved incomes and living standards for healthcare workers, more efficient resource management, and reduced costs.

More recently, Government Decree No. 60/2021/NĐ-CP was issued on June 21, 2021, and took effect on August 15, 2021 (replacing Decree No. 16/2015), stipulating financial autonomy mechanisms for public service units in various sectors, including health and population. Under this Decree, public hospitals fall into four autonomy categories. To date, there has been much discussion of the advantages and difficulties of implementing financial autonomy in public hospitals under Decree No. 60/2021. However, no updated assessment of its implementation has been conducted because of difficulties in data collection, evaluation methods, and other issues, as well as substantial differences in operations among hospitals and even within departments of the same hospital. Therefore, assessing the implementation of financial autonomy in public hospitals is essential to provide a basis for adjusting policies to reflect the operational realities of public hospitals under the current financial autonomy mechanism and other policy provisions, such as the 2023 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment and the 2019 Law on Public Investment,” emphasized Prof. Dr. Pham Hong Chuong.

The President expressed his hope that the seminar would serve as an open forum to examine issues, advantages, difficulties, and bottlenecks from different perspectives on important aspects of policy development and implementation, as well as hospital governance. He also affirmed that the seminar’s outcomes would contribute to the preparation of the Macroeconomic Report for the Fourth Quarter of 2024 and provide additional information for research, advisory work, and policy recommendations to enable the Party, the National Assembly, and the Government to provide timely direction and make timely policy decisions.

MSc. Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc, Deputy Head of the Finance Division, Department of Planning and Finance, Ministry of Health, presents a paper at the seminar.

Dr. Nguyen Khanh Phuong, Director of the Health Strategy and Policy Institute, Ministry of Health, presents a paper at the seminar.

MSc. Vu Thanh Nam, MD, Engineer, a health economics research expert at the Institute of Health Science Research, Vietnam Military-Civilian Medicine Association, presents a paper at the seminar.

Accordingly, the seminar brought together state management agencies (such as the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance), research institutes in economics and health (such as the Ministry of Health’s Health Strategy and Policy Institute and the Vietnam Military-Civilian Medicine Association’s Institute of Health Science Research), and, in particular, public hospitals implementing financial autonomy.

Delegates exchange views and contribute ideas at the seminar

Additional images from the seminar:

Article and photos: Department of Communications

This is an automated translation. If you notice any errors, please contact the Department of Communications, National Economics University at phongtruyenthong@neu.edu.vn.