Hospitals improve quality to lure foreign patients

Vietnamese doctors provide treatment for a Japanese patient (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) - About 300,000 foreign patients sought medical examination and treatment in Vietnam’s hospitals in 2018, including 57,000 inpatients.

In recent years, thanks to improved infrastructure, skills, and quality of medical examination and treatment not lower than any countries in the region, along with low medical cost, domestic hospitals have attracted an increasing number of patients who are overseas Vietnamese and foreigners.

The most popular health services in Vietnam are cardiovascular intervention, orthodontic treatment, cancer and cosmetics surgery.

Skills of Vietnamese doctors are highly valued

The Hanoi-based Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital recently received a 65-year-old Japanese patient who was a Japanese language teacher in Vietnam. He suffered from an inside chest injury, with his left scapula broken and dislocated after a traffic accident.

He previously had diseases such as diabetes and gout, and underwent a colorectal surgery 30 years ago.

On November 4, doctors of the hospital performed a surgery to fix his bone. In the afternoon the same day, his blood pressure decreased and he had taken medicine to support his heart. He sweated profusely, felt pain in his left chest, and showed signs of ventricular extrasystoles.

The doctors concluded that the patient was suffering from acute myocardial infarction, which could result in his death.

Experts of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Centre under the Vietnam – Germany Friendship Hospital timely performed coronary stent placement for the patient on that night. After intervention, the patient regained consciousness and could breathe on his own, his blood pressure was stable and he could halt his cardiac medications.

He stayed at the centre for a while to receive further treatment after his surgery and chest injury.

Meanwhile, a 90-year-old patient from the Czech Republic also suffered from various complicated diseases and travelled to Vietnam for treatment.

Belgian senior citizen Alsen Alphonese, aged 90, suffered from a heart attack and received timely treatment from doctors of Can Tho Central General Hospital (Photo: VNA)

His family had brought him to Qatar, which is among 16 countries of the world with best medical services, to seek treatment. However, his condition did not improve.

In late October this year, his family decided to take him to Vietnam. They considered many treatment methods before coming to the Hanoi-based Central Lung Hospital.

Since he had lung and cardiac diseases, many leading experts of the hospital and the Hanoi Heart Hospital joined hands to perform an endoscopic lung surgery for the patient.

The surgery was a success and he was the oldest patient ever to undergo a chest surgery at the hospital.

The Ho Chi Minh Hospital of Oncology also frequently receives patients from Cambodia, China, the US, the Philippines and Australia, among others.

Meanwhile, the Department of Endoscopy of Binh Dan Hospital receives more than 20 patients from Laos and Cambodia per week.

Renewing to gain trust of Vietnamese patients

Statistics showed that about 40,000 Vietnamese patients seek medical examination and treatment overseas at a cost totalling 2 billion USD each year.

At present, domestic health services could meet demand of Vietnamese people and foreigners as the country’s health sector has gained numerous achievements and even outpaced countries in the region.

Doctors of major hospitals across the world have come to Vietnam to learn from local doctors.

For example, a doctor from Prince Mishari Hospital of Saudi Arabia recently travelled to Vietnam to learn a technique to perform thyroid endoscopic surgery via armpit and chest, which is introduced by Assoc. Prof., Dr. Tran Ngoc Luong, Director of the National Hospital of Endocrinology.

The technique has just been recognised as a Vietnamese method of thyroid endoscopic surgery that is applied, transferred and trained the most at home and abroad.

More than 40 leading doctors of Turkey and Azerbaijan joined a session to observe a surgery applying “Dr. Luong’s technique” performed at Anadolu Hospital of Turkey by doctors from Vietnam’s National Hospital of Endocrinology.

Moreover, the National Centre of Acupuncture is recognised to cure 53 types of disease at low treatment cost. Out of 135 countries worldwide applying acupuncture as a medical treatment, Vietnam ranks second among five countries with various accomplishments in this field.

In addition, Vietnam’s dentistry has been on par with developed countries and surpass those in the region, with budget-friendly prices./.