Patients have chemotheraphy at Cho Ray Hospital. (Photo: thanhnien.vn)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - New Ministry of Health (MoH) regulations on cancer treatment foroutpatients from other provinces is causing problems to hospitals and thousandsof sufferers.
In March last year, MoH issued a circular on daytime chemotherapy, radiotherapyand chemoradiotherapy at medical facilities. It said that doctors bearresponsibility to administer treatment based on patients’ health and pathology.
The regulation is applied only for patients who live in provinces or citieswhere hospitals they receive treatment are located. Regarding patients fromother localities, they have to sign commitment letters for voluntary treatmentwhile no guidance has been released.
After having her brain tumor removed a 38-year-old woman who has asked not benamed, from Dong Nai province, now gets chemotherapy at 26 million VND (11,500USD) from Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City.
“There is no way I will sign a commitment letter. What if it is considered as arequest for medical services then Vietnam Social Security will no longer payfor my treatment expenses,” she said.
Another patient chooses to receive outpatient treatment as she still has towork. As a single mother, she saves 1.5 million VND (64.5 USD) from her monthlyincome of 4 million VND (172 USD) for her kid.
“Since I had a brain tumor removal surgery at Cho Ray Hospital, I’d better havechemotherapy here than other medical centres in Dong Nai province,” she said.
Sharing the same opinion, another 46-year-old patient, suffering from throatcancer patient, disapproves the circular.
“We should not sign any commitment letter,” he stressed.
Living 60km away from HCM City, she goes to Cho Ray Hospital to receiveradiotherapy then comes back to his Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang towork.
Some 9,000 outpatients frequently have chemotherapy and radiotherapy at HCMCity Hospital of Oncology with 75 percent of them living outside the city. Thepercentage at Cho Ray Hospital is 70 out of 360 patients.
According to the National Hospital of Oncology (Hospital K) in Hanoi, it isestimated to have 126,000 new cancer cases every year.
Among common treatment methods - chemotherapy and radiotherapy, radiotherapy isthe most essential.
On average, each patient has five sessions per week over about five weeks.Hospital K has witnessed the significant increase of patients in recent years,from nearly 11,800 in 2015 to 15,000 in 2017.
The cost for a chemotherapy session varies from hundreds of thousands tomillions of dong. Radiotherapy, based on different technologies, may cost from 500,000VND to 1.5 million VND (21.5 – 64.5 USD) each time. As cancer is a chronicdisease which requires a longtime treatment, most of patients are outpatients.
Bach Mai Hospital’s Deputy Director Nguyen Ngoc Hien said for cancer patientsnot living in Hanoi, they usually rent bedsits around the hospital. Therefore,to enjoy social insurance, they need to acquire a certificate of temporaryresidency from Hanoi Police.
“I think that the circular aims to prevent hospitals from asking patients toreceive outpatient treatment. Also, as patients from other provinces sign thecommitment letter once any problem happens, they will not sue hospitals,” saidDiep Bao Tuan, Deputy Director of the HCM City Hospital of Oncology.
According to Tuan, patients are scared to sign commitment letters. They told himthey were completely dependent on doctors’ prescriptions based on their medicalrecords but they would surely not sign anything.
“It should be doctors who advise patients whether to go to hospital or haveoutpatient treatment. Since 2017, no patient has submitted a single commitmentletter although we have encouraged them,” Tuan said.
On the other hand, Pham Thanh Viet, head of Cho Ray Hospital’s Department ofGeneral Planning, said the circular created negative impacts on both hospitalsand patients. Patients may have to bear a financial burden for treatment asonce they sign, they agree to receive medical services that social insurancedoes not cover.
Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy head of Department of Medical Facility Managementunder MoH, said the circular is aimed to ease the pressure on central levelhospitals.
“However, since patients are our priority, they raise their opinions via ourhotline. MoH and Vietnam Social Security (VSS) will discuss to adjustregulations to serve them best,” he said.
According to Dao Viet Anh, VSS Deputy Director, the agency’s feedback on theissue will be announced next week.-VNS/VNA
In March last year, MoH issued a circular on daytime chemotherapy, radiotherapyand chemoradiotherapy at medical facilities. It said that doctors bearresponsibility to administer treatment based on patients’ health and pathology.
The regulation is applied only for patients who live in provinces or citieswhere hospitals they receive treatment are located. Regarding patients fromother localities, they have to sign commitment letters for voluntary treatmentwhile no guidance has been released.
After having her brain tumor removed a 38-year-old woman who has asked not benamed, from Dong Nai province, now gets chemotherapy at 26 million VND (11,500USD) from Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City.
“There is no way I will sign a commitment letter. What if it is considered as arequest for medical services then Vietnam Social Security will no longer payfor my treatment expenses,” she said.
Another patient chooses to receive outpatient treatment as she still has towork. As a single mother, she saves 1.5 million VND (64.5 USD) from her monthlyincome of 4 million VND (172 USD) for her kid.
“Since I had a brain tumor removal surgery at Cho Ray Hospital, I’d better havechemotherapy here than other medical centres in Dong Nai province,” she said.
Sharing the same opinion, another 46-year-old patient, suffering from throatcancer patient, disapproves the circular.
“We should not sign any commitment letter,” he stressed.
Living 60km away from HCM City, she goes to Cho Ray Hospital to receiveradiotherapy then comes back to his Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang towork.
Some 9,000 outpatients frequently have chemotherapy and radiotherapy at HCMCity Hospital of Oncology with 75 percent of them living outside the city. Thepercentage at Cho Ray Hospital is 70 out of 360 patients.
According to the National Hospital of Oncology (Hospital K) in Hanoi, it isestimated to have 126,000 new cancer cases every year.
Among common treatment methods - chemotherapy and radiotherapy, radiotherapy isthe most essential.
On average, each patient has five sessions per week over about five weeks.Hospital K has witnessed the significant increase of patients in recent years,from nearly 11,800 in 2015 to 15,000 in 2017.
The cost for a chemotherapy session varies from hundreds of thousands tomillions of dong. Radiotherapy, based on different technologies, may cost from 500,000VND to 1.5 million VND (21.5 – 64.5 USD) each time. As cancer is a chronicdisease which requires a longtime treatment, most of patients are outpatients.
Bach Mai Hospital’s Deputy Director Nguyen Ngoc Hien said for cancer patientsnot living in Hanoi, they usually rent bedsits around the hospital. Therefore,to enjoy social insurance, they need to acquire a certificate of temporaryresidency from Hanoi Police.
“I think that the circular aims to prevent hospitals from asking patients toreceive outpatient treatment. Also, as patients from other provinces sign thecommitment letter once any problem happens, they will not sue hospitals,” saidDiep Bao Tuan, Deputy Director of the HCM City Hospital of Oncology.
According to Tuan, patients are scared to sign commitment letters. They told himthey were completely dependent on doctors’ prescriptions based on their medicalrecords but they would surely not sign anything.
“It should be doctors who advise patients whether to go to hospital or haveoutpatient treatment. Since 2017, no patient has submitted a single commitmentletter although we have encouraged them,” Tuan said.
On the other hand, Pham Thanh Viet, head of Cho Ray Hospital’s Department ofGeneral Planning, said the circular created negative impacts on both hospitalsand patients. Patients may have to bear a financial burden for treatment asonce they sign, they agree to receive medical services that social insurancedoes not cover.
Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy head of Department of Medical Facility Managementunder MoH, said the circular is aimed to ease the pressure on central levelhospitals.
“However, since patients are our priority, they raise their opinions via ourhotline. MoH and Vietnam Social Security (VSS) will discuss to adjustregulations to serve them best,” he said.
According to Dao Viet Anh, VSS Deputy Director, the agency’s feedback on theissue will be announced next week.-VNS/VNA
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