Vietnam Experts Praise PPP as Most Effective in Hospital Management

The public-private partnership (PPP) model in provincial-level hospital management is the most effective in examining and treating patients among other types of investment, participants said at a conference held today in Vietnam’s southern Dong Nai province. Director of the Dong Nai General Hospital Phan Huy Anh Vu named several strengths after his hospital, which began operation in April under the public-private-partnership model, showed initial effectiveness. Running the model helped the managers mobilize investment from the private sector in order to buy the most advanced medical facilities, improve the quality of examination-and-treatment services, and reduce overcrowding for central-level hospitals, Mr. Vu noted. Thanks to investments from the private sector, the state could reduce their investment in provincial-level hospitals, he noted, adding that the new system allows patients to select doctors and services based on their demand. Participants at the conference said that in the past, when going to a hospital, the first thing patients were told to undergo computerized tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, although in some cases it was unnecessary. Conference participants also discussed measures to apply economic concepts in hospital management. The conference drew in over 30 directors from different hospitals in the southern region. Meanwhile, in the 2011-2015 period, total investment for healthcare sector from state budget, government bond, and official development assistance (ODA) reached VND354.207 trillion ($15.7 billion). However, the fund was not enough to tap the huge demand for health infrastructure. The government has been calling on the private sector for additional investment under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) forms. (Vietnam News Oct 21, Saigon Giai Phong – Liberated Saigon Sept 17)