Currently, the service prices in hospitals are too outdated, there are even fees collected at levels established nearly 20 years ago. To be fair, where do hospitals get the resources to compensate for the difference compared to actual costs?
Patients come to public health facilities and complain about the quality, from the waiting chairs, the toilets to the hospital beds, everything is not clean. But they have to share with the hospital, because there is no money to invest in facilities.
With higher service fees, hospitals have the resources to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment for patients. The community cannot demand high quality medical examination and treatment services when service fees are low and medical facilities cannot collect enough to cover expenses. Because of incorrect and insufficient collection, public hospitals are degraded, without resources for repair and maintenance, many places are old and shabby.
Compare with private hospitals, you will see a huge difference in service fees compared to public hospitals. Private medical facilities charge high fees so they invest in clean and spacious facilities, enthusiastic doctors and nurses, and attentive patient care. Not to mention, private medical facilities have the resources to pay for modern equipment investments and pay high salaries to employees, so they attract good doctors.
In many localities, public health facilities are facing many difficulties, with fewer patients coming to see them and the risk of not being able to pay salaries. Because the revenue is too low, there is not enough to invest in equipment, and the ability to retain good doctors, patients do not trust them to come for treatment. Without money, hospitals fall into a vicious cycle.
There should be no view that increasing hospital fees will affect people. In fact, even though they have to pay more, most patients still go to private medical facilities because of the high quality of service.
Currently, in the price of medical examination and treatment services, there is no component for depreciation costs of assets, scientific research training, and management. Moving forward, we must calculate correctly and sufficiently to invest in modern equipment and machinery and attract good human resources. The problem is not increasing hospital fees, but the quality of medical examination and treatment services must be commensurate with the money that patients spend.
