Illustrative image (Source: E Hospital) Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Health (MoH) has issued a set of criteria to assess hospital quality towards improving services and increasing patient satisfaction.
The 83 criteria were tested over a three-year basis.
Nineteen of the criteria are related to patient care, 14 to work force development, 38 to professional quality, eight to quality improvement and four to professional knowledge, according to the MoH.
Implementation of the criteria will be graded according to five levels: bad, average, moderately good, good and very good.
The head of the ministry’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment, Luong Ngoc Khue, said the criteria was aimed at encouraging hospitals to improve their operation and quality and provide safe and qualified services.
They would also serve as a tool for management agencies to guide hospitals on quality and to implement quality assessment activities, he added.
He noted that effective quality management reduced costs and errors, which in turn attracted more patients.
Hospitals would themselves assess their service quality first, in November and December, and would then be examined by management agencies, according to the official.
The ministry reported last week it had planned to issue more criteria in 2017 to help assess hospital quality more comprehensively.
Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said at the third national hospital quality forum in September that improving health check-ups and treatment quality to satisfy patients was a priority for the healthcare sector.
Despite some remaining weaknesses, she said that the service quality had seen major improvements in recent years, earning public appreciation. A number of hospitals have taken measures to shorten the time patients wait to be treated, while applying information technology and bettering hygienic conditions, she noted./.
VNA
