
Hanoi (VNA) – The 18th Hospital Management Asiaconference opened in Hanoi on September 11 with the participation of over 2,500delegates from 28 countries.
The annual event, the fourth of its kind hostedby Vietnam so far, aims to help hospital owners and directors, doctors andhealth officials in Asia to gain an insight into healthcare management thinkingand the best practices and solutions from around the world.
They will discuss evolving business models,advanced technologies and improvements in management and healthcare systems soas to cut down costs and improve patient outcomes. Achievements by hospitalsacross Asia will also be honoured at the two-day conference.
In her speech, Vietnamese Minister of HealthNguyen Thi Kim Tien said in recent years, her ministry has carried out a reformprogramme for the health sector with a view to promoting universal healthcare,in which the quality of medical services are of critical importance.
She highlighted that the health insurancecoverage in the country has reached 89 percent thanks to the State’s assistancefor poor and near-poor people to buy the insurance. Additionally, the scope ofhealth insurance benefits in Vietnam is rather wide compared to the premiumsparticipants have to pay as it covers medicine, treatment costs of some seriousillnesses, as well as organ transplant costs.
At the conference, a memorandum of understandingon healthcare cooperation was signed between three hospitals of Vietnam (HungVuong General Hospital, Quang Khoi General Hospital, and OtorhinolaryngologyHospital of the Central Region) and three healthcare establishments of Malaysia(Mahkota Medical Centre, Subang Jaya Medical Centre, and Sunway MedicalCentre).
The Asian Hospital Management Awards were alsopresented to honour the Asian-Pacific hospitals with the best practices./.