People who are given priority when going to see a doctor or get treatment from January 1, 2024

Priority cases for medical examination and treatment from January 1, 2024

According to Clause 1, Clause 2 and Clause 3, Article 3 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 (effective from January 1, 2024), the interpretation of terms is regulated as follows:

- Medical examination is the use of knowledge, methods, and specialized techniques by medical practitioners to assess the health status, health risks, and health care needs of patients.

- Treatment is the practice of medical practitioners using specialized knowledge, methods, and techniques to resolve medical conditions, prevent the occurrence and progression of diseases, or meet the health care needs of patients based on medical examination results.

- Patients are people who use medical examination and treatment services.

Clause 2, Article 3 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 stipulates the principles in medical examination and treatment as follows:

Priority medical examination and treatment for patients in emergency conditions;

Children under 6 years old;

Pregnant women;

People with severe disabilities;

People aged 75 and over;

People with revolutionary contributions suitable to the characteristics of medical examination and treatment facilities.

Thus, the age group given priority for medical examination and treatment is stipulated as above.

What activities are prioritized in the State budget for medical examination and treatment?

Article 4 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 stipulates the priority of allocating the State budget for the following activities to ensure the goal of providing quality medical services and meeting the diverse medical needs of the people:

- Developing medical examination and treatment facilities in primary health care and the out-of-hospital emergency system: Investing in and developing the primary health care system and the out-of-hospital emergency system is extremely important to provide effective and timely medical services to the people, especially in emergency situations.

- Focus on investing in medical examination and treatment facilities in border areas, islands, ethnic minority and mountainous areas, areas with difficult socio-economic conditions and areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions: This ensures that people in difficult areas will have the opportunity to access adequate medical services appropriate to their local situation.

- Prioritize the allocation of the State budget for the following activities: Medical examination and treatment for people with revolutionary contributions; children, the elderly, the disabled, people from poor households, people from near-poor households; people living in border areas, islands, areas with difficult socio-economic conditions and areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions; people with mental illness, leprosy; people with infectious diseases in group A; people with infectious diseases in group B according to the list prescribed by the Minister of Health.

Practice license valid for 5 years

In addition to the above contents, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 also has regulations related to medical practitioners.

Accordingly, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 expands the scope of practice by changing from granting practice licenses based on professional qualifications to providing practice licenses based on professional titles.

The Law also changes the method of granting practice licenses from granting practice licenses through reviewing documents to requiring a professional capacity assessment before granting a practice license.

The practice license is valid for 5 years and the requirement to update medical knowledge is one of the conditions for renewing the practice license.

Regulations require foreigners who practice long-term in Vietnam and examine and treat Vietnamese people to use Vietnamese fluently. Except for some cases of cooperation in exchanging experts, transferring technology, and training.

Regarding the quality of medical examination and treatment services, the law has changed from 4 professional levels to 3 professional levels.

At the same time, the law also allows private clinics in areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions to organize inpatient beds to monitor and treat patients, but for no more than 72 hours.

Minh Hoa (t/h)

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