On November 6, the Department of Health of Bac Lieu province said that the implementation of the financial autonomy mechanism creates initiative for the unit in financial revenue and expenditure, personnel management, streamlining the apparatus, effectively using financial resources, saving costs, supplementing income for workers has been gradually improved, and salary distribution of public service units is linked to performance, efficiency and quality of work according to internal spending regulations.
However, during the transition to the autonomous mechanism for group 4 units, things were basically stable; as for group 3 and group 2 units, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they encountered many difficulties, especially at some district-level medical centers such as low medical examination and treatment revenue, the amount exceeding the health insurance budget that has not been accepted for long-term payment... leading to financial imbalances that have not been resolved up to now.
Regarding revenue from hospital fees, health insurance, services, and other revenues, in 2022, revenue will be 618.69 billion VND, expenditure will be 570.48 billion VND, surplus and distribution of financial results (fund allocations) will be 48.21 billion VND; in 2023, revenue will be 714.15 billion VND, expenditure will be 685.71 billion VND, surplus and distribution of financial results (fund allocations) will be 28.43 billion VND; in 2024, revenue will be 482.85 billion VND, expenditure will be 497.13 billion VND (deficit of 14.28 billion VND).
The remaining units still face many difficulties, low service revenue, some units' revenue is not enough to cover expenses, financial imbalance, affecting the provision of health care services and the development of the unit.
Regarding medical equipment, district-level hospitals have not yet invested in medical equipment to serve diagnosis and treatment. Most of the equipment has been degraded and damaged, not ensuring medical examination and treatment, few patients, low bed occupancy, affecting revenue.
The Department of Health proposed that the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province recommend that the Ministry of Health consider raising the price of medical examination and treatment services covered by health insurance and not covered by health insurance in accordance with the current situation; The Ministry of Health recommends that the Vietnam Social Security and relevant ministries and branches advise the Government to promptly consider paying health insurance medical examination and treatment costs for medical examination and treatment facilities that exceed the total payment or exceed the assigned budget to have a source to pay outstanding debts such as medicine fees and related arising costs.
Meanwhile, in Ca Mau, district hospitals in remote areas such as U Minh, Phu Tan, and Thoi Binh, in addition to difficulties due to low patient numbers, also face difficulties in bidding for drugs and medical equipment due to low bid value and distance from the center. In particular, Thoi Binh District Medical Center is seriously degraded and cannot be repaired.
District-level medical centers and hospitals are concerned that if they remove the initial medical examination and treatment facility, people with health insurance cards will be paid regardless of where they receive treatment, which will cause difficulties for the unit. Because, patients will tend to flock to higher-level facilities; to places with modern facilities, new facilities, even if they have to pay a certain percentage more.
