This is a noteworthy content when the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just approved the policy of piloting medical examination and treatment with health insurance (HI) at home associated with the model "Continuous health care team associated with residential areas".
This policy is expected to open up a new approach to community health care, bringing health services closer to people instead of just focusing on medical examination and treatment facilities.
Over the past time, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented the "Continuous Health Care Team Associated with Residential Areas" model in many communes and wards. Medical teams directly go to each household to update health information, screen, counsel, manage chronic diseases and support people to access necessary medical services.
Reality shows that this model helps to detect many health problems early, while strengthening the ability to manage chronic diseases right in the community. In particular, for the elderly or people with limited mobility, regular health monitoring at their place of residence helps significantly reduce difficulties in accessing health services.
However, one of the biggest barriers to home medical examination and treatment is the lack of a suitable HI payment mechanism. Many community health care activities, although bringing practical efficiency, still face difficulties in the implementation process due to lack of legal basis and stable funding.
Ho Chi Minh City's permission to pilot health insurance medical examination and treatment at home is considered an important step to remove this bottleneck. When people enjoy health insurance benefits right at their place of residence, access to health services will be expanded, especially for vulnerable groups.
According to the plan, the city's health sector will coordinate with the social insurance agency to develop appropriate professional procedures, dossiers and payment mechanisms before deploying in some selected areas. The pilot results will be evaluated to serve as a basis for completing the model in the near future.
In the context of rapidly aging population, the increasing number of people with chronic diseases and the urgent need for community health care, bringing health services to homes is considered an inevitable trend of the modern health system.
If effectively implemented, the home-based health insurance medical examination and treatment model will not only help reduce pressure on hospitals but also contribute to building a proactive grassroots healthcare system, close to the people and putting people at the center, towards the goal of comprehensive health care for all people.
