On-demand medical examination, treatment prices drop sharply

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - While several services are seeing price increases in line with the Ministry of Health (MoH)’s regulations, a notable decrease in prices has been observed for many technical services, particularly on-demand surgery.

This change comes in the wake of the MoH's Circular 13/2023, which details the pricing for medical examination and treatment services, and became effective on August 15.

At the Hanoi-based Viet Duc Hospital, close to 1,500 medical services are clearly displayed, with their prices listed both before and after the implementation of this circular.

A reporter from the Nguoi lao dong (The Labourer) newspaper noted that the majority of the service prices are either equal to or less than the maximum rates established by the MoH. These prices are substantially lower compared to the rates that this hospital previously charged.

Under the new pricing scheme, the cost of on-demand medical examinations at the Viet Duc Hospital has been set at 500,000 VND (21 USD) for various types of requests. For individuals with health insurance, the fee is reduced to 461,000 VND (19 USD).

In the past, the maximum charge for an on-demand medical examination and treatment at the Viet Duc Hospital, when requested from experts, was 2 million VND (84 USD).

There have also been significant reductions in the prices of numerous other technical services. For example, the cost of a thyroid ultrasound has decreased from 300,000 VND (12 USD) to 291,000 VND, an ovarian ultrasound from 500,000 VND to 287,000 VND, and treatment for disc herniation from 13 million VND (549 USD) to nearly 2.4 million VND (101 USD).

Furthermore, the prices for many surgical services, which are a specialty of the Viet Duc Hospital, have been substantially lowered. For instance, the price for chronic ischemic surgery has been reduced from 43 million VND (1,800 USD) to nearly VND13 million (548 USD).

Duong Duc Hung, the director of the hospital, confirmed that the hospital had not increased the price for any on-demand services.

Despite these significant price reductions, the quality of service provided by the hospital remained unchanged.

"The hospital will improve quality to ensure patients’ interests, the quality of medical examination and treatment is the priority," said Hung.

Similarly, at the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, starting from August 15, the cost of a caesarean section for a first delivery has been reduced from 16 million VND (675 USD) to just over 6.7 million VND (283 USD), while for a second delivery, the price is now set at 7.6 million VND.

For normal births, the service price has been lowered from 14 million VND to 4.3 million VND.

A medical expert, explaining the considerable drop in prices for many on-demand services, suggested that previously, hospitals might have been charging for the highest-quality supplies and fully accounting for inflation in their calculations.

This is the first time the MoH has issued a circular concerning prices for on-demand medical examination and treatment. As such, the expert anticipated that these prices would likely be adjusted annually, taking into account the minimum salary and inflation.

The prices of on-demand medical examination and treatment services at various hospitals in HCM City remained unchanged after August 15.

A representative from HCM City Children's Hospital No 1 stated that the hospital was applying its old price list. The unit was in the process of reviewing the prices in order to make adjustments, after which it would submit the proposed new prices to the municipal Department of Health for approval.

Tran Van Khanh, the director of Le Van Thinh Hospital in Thu Duc city, mentioned that the hospital was maintaining its old price list and had also installed new amenities, such as televisions and air conditioners, to enhance patient comfort.

Considering the ongoing hardships faced by residents after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Khanh said that the hospital had opted not to increase prices at this time./.